


We're In The Band(stuck)

by InSearchOfSpace



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Human AU, Humanstuck, If you want to blame something for this fic's existence blame the song Dark Days by PUP lmao, M/M, Post-Break Up Angst, Punk Rock, Will add more characters/ships to the tags as I write them in, band au, bandstuck, yes i still ship katnep in 2017
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-02-10 02:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12902262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InSearchOfSpace/pseuds/InSearchOfSpace
Summary: A newly formed group of friends of different walks of life start a band together, finding themselves achieving a moderate amount of success as a local punk rock act. Together, Karkat, Gamzee, Kanaya, Nepeta, and Tavros work to overcome the trials and tribulations that come with 'making it' as a band. || (I won't stop updating this. Even if I get lazy about it, I'll still keep updating!) || Cleaned up past chapters!





	1. Demon To Lean On

# Getting The Band ~~Back~~ Together

"Karkat."

 

...

 

_"Karkat."_

 

_..._

 

"Karkat, for fuck's sake, what are you staring at? The snow?"

 

Karkat was ripped from the boredom induced trance with a smack on the back, listening to the familiarly acerbic voice of his best friend and co-worker, Sollux Captor. Sollux had a fairly prevalent lisp when he spoke, making the voice incontrovertibly his.

 

"Does it actually surprise you that working in a fucking coffee shop falls so low on my expansive list of interests, so much so in fact that it's gotten to the point that I'd rather stare at the vacuous void of white on the street outside than actually do my job," [Karkat](https://78.media.tumblr.com/e70b5df9ec888054d1cf89155ec0b810/tumblr_n8zker1Ay71r9ee9go3_r2_1280.png) replied, crossing his arms as he looked up at Sollux. "Or are you really that fucking dense?" He finished, poking Sollux's chest with his index finger through his apron. If Karkat didn't look so fed-up with everything all the time, he might have cracked a slight smile at his comment. No such smile was shown, but having years of experience with Karkat under his belt, Sollux knew full well that this was a jokey conversation. That was Karkat's problem - he always, always, always failed to convey whether or not he was joking.

 

"Fuck you." Sollux said back with a laugh, trying to get Karkat in a playful headlock.

 

"Fuck _you_ , fucker." Karkat said as he successfully managed to repel Sollux, looking up at him.

 

"What are you doing later?" Sollux asked bluntly, folding his arms as he looked back down at Karkat. "Zilch. Perhaps I'll just go straight the fuck home and self-immolate so I don't have to spend another second in this fucking dump." Karkat said, pretending to look like he was doing something important, when just then a customer at the counter caught the attention of both Karkat and Sollux by clearing his throat. Dave Strider.

 

"Uh-oh. Ex boyfriend. You're on your own." Sollux quietly spoke out the side of his mouth before nudging Karkat with his elbow, slinking away to places unseen so Karkat could deal with the customer by himself. Great.

 

"Yeah, can I have one of everything?" Hands were placed on the counter, the tall, blonde individual looking at Karkat through a pair of dark aviator sunglasses - despite it not being weather for them.

 

"Go away." Karkat replied, his elbow on the counter and his head in his hand. He could already tell how this was going to go.

 

  
"That does it, where's the manager?" Dave tried not to laugh, crossing his arms after taking off a pair of wool gloves.

 

  
"I'm serious, what are you even _doing_ here?" Karkat said, rolling his eyes. It was going to be a long day if it kept going like this, and Karkat really didn't have the patience for any more long days.

 

  
"I'm just trying to get a coffee, man. Why, what are you doing here? Because it doesn't seem to be serving coffee." Dave said, smirking as he reached over to nudge Karkat's shoulder - an action to which Karkat had no reaction.

 

"Out of all of the coffee shops in the whole fucking town, you drag your ass 30 minutes away from your home to the one coffee shop of which I am an employee, ON the day I'm working there, AT the exact right time to be served by me, which is ALL information you were privy to beforehand, and you're just getting coffee?" Karkat stood up straight, looking around for somebody to bail him out. No such luck.

 

 

"Alright, alright. You got me," Dave said, laughing as he held up his hands in defeat.

 

 

"This one has really good lighting."

 

  
**"GET THE FU--"** Karkat's yelling was interrupted by Sollux, who had swooped in to pull Karkat aside and take his place.

 

"Hey, Karkat, look at that! You were supposed to be on your break about a minute ago! I'll field this one for you no problem, pal." He said, the entire coffee shop fell silent save for the music playing quietly over the speakers throughout the building, and everybody was staring at Karkat, despite what few words he was able to shout out. It took a few moments for the idle chatter to pick up again, and by that point Karkat was already out of sight.

 

Karkat let out a deep sigh, gathering up his belongings to leave work once his shift was over, still thinking about the previous encounter. Despite both Karkat and Dave being well and truly over each other, Dave had been trying to make contact with Karkat for a while now, and he could only assume this was to try and piss him off.

 

Dave fell INCREDIBLY low on the list of people Karkat wouldn't mind talking to - the result of a bitter end to a relationship that just didn't work out. They say opposites attract, but the two might have just been too different. It was a touchy subject, and Karkat wasn't sure whether or not he'd ever even want to consider even being _friends_ with him again.

 

Karkat's train of thought was interrupted by a voice speaking to him from behind. "Hey, dork." Sollux said, leaning against the wall with his backpack in one hand and his phone in the other, looking at Karkat with a grin.

 

"Great. You again." Karkat rose to his feet, putting his arms through his jacket.

 

  
"Obviously. Who else would wanna talk to you? I just wanted to see if you were up for hanging out later. I'm finally done with my _latest_ foray into programming, so we're free to engage in social interaction as we please." Sollux said with a smug grin, pulling on his unzipped coat looking all proud of himself. Smug bastard.

 

"First of all, that was the most tragically fucking nerdy thing to ever come out of your mouth. Secondly, sure, whatever." Karkat said, putting a pair of earphones in as Sollux gave a toothy grin.

  
"Great. Have a safe journey and all that." He said as he patted Karkat's shoulder on the way out, leaving Karkat to listen to his music on his way to catch the bus. Work was pretty stressful, and while encounters like that don't usually happen, it doesn't help.

 

Karkat walked down the street with his hands in his jacket pockets, the cold air visible on his breath. Now he had Gamzee to look forward to coming home to. Him and Gamzee had been best friends since childhood, but now, they're simply just friends. They get along, they have a laugh with each other, but Gamzee's laid-backness made him something of a slacker at times. It didn't really mesh well with Karkat at all. Paying for things to smoke and drink, as well as not having an actual job meant Karkat was left to shoulder the burden of rent almost entirely by himself, which was nigh impossible without the occasional intervention of his brother, but in spite of all of that Karkat was still willing to stick by him, feeling himself almost obligated to in a way.

 

Karkat let himself into their apartment after a 5 minute walk and a 20 minute bus ride, shutting the door behind himself as he hung his jacket on a peg on the wall. [Gamzee](https://78.media.tumblr.com/5a6c463a5e677633169bf4a8e2e3b7fc/tumblr_inline_oc48t5cbAA1s6ox34_540.png) was laying across the couch, Faygo bottles and a still-smoking ashtray sitting on the coffee table, with the only source of light coming from the TV screen as the blinds on the window were shut. "Yeah, hello to you too." Karkat said, noting Gamzee's silence as he walked in with a huff, collapsing down on an armchair beside the couch. He sat lifelessly, exhausted as he looked up at the ceiling. "What are you watching?"

The TV was showing coverage of a past music festival nearby, the cameras recording the current band playing their instruments enthusiastically, occasionally showing the ocean of people that had come to see them, jumping up and down with their hands raised up in the air. The energy of the show was palpable, even through the TV screen. Karkat watched, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair rhythmically. "It's that all up and fuckin' wicked festival from last week." Gamzee coughed, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up, looking over at Karkat. He stretched with a yawn, before lazily sinking back into the comfortable couch.

 

"Oh. Right, that thing. Sollux's brother's girlfriend went there, if I recall correctly." He said, only knowing about it himself because it was all over her social media pages for days on end. A bit of useless information, but it showed he knew what Gamzee was talking about.

 

"Oh yeah... 'Thollux'." Gamzee said with a quiet chuckle, his eyes seeming to be fixed on the performing band, unable to look away from how the crowd idolized them and just exploded with raw energy at their mere presence. "You know I could get there one day. That could be me on a motherfucking stage." Gamzee said, sitting forward to look at Karkat. Karkat just laughed, raising an eyebrow.

 

"What? You don't even play an instrument. You've never expressed interest in starting a band before now anyway." Karkat sat up, reaching forward to turn on the lamp on the coffee table, the room lighting up with a click.

 

"Of course I have, dude. All the time." Gamzee said, putting his hands behind his head as he put his feet up on the coffee table, only to have them be pushed off by Karkat's foot.

 

"Bull-fucking-shit. What instrument would you play, Gamzee?"

"You already know this skillful motherfucker right here would be the drummer. Played 'em in school, plus shit's crazy easy to get the hang of, and I was put on this Earth to lay beats straight the motherfuck down." Gamzee smirked, laughing to himself. "Know something? I think I _will_ do it. I'm gonna make the best motherfucking band to hit the motherfuckin' planet, motherfucker."

 

Gamzee stood up, striking a pose that he felt properly conveyed his level of determination to Karkat, who was just laughing quietly with his head in his hands. "That'll be the fucking day. Tell you what, I'm so positive that you're just not going to follow through with this even if you HAD the opportunity, that I'll even go out and put in all the hard work _for_ you." Karkat said, getting up to go and change out of his work clothes. "You're just going to wake up the next day, get high, and forget we ever even had this conversation." 

 

"Yeah? Well that sounds like a deal to me, my dude. Get on that shit." Gamzee laughed, laying back down to continue watching the TV, letting out another hacking cough.

 

"I will!" Karkat called out from the other room. It wouldn't be too hard to put a few flyers up. He could get Sollux to whip something up lazily on his computer and print them out so they could go around putting them up wherever they could. Telephone poles, store windows, bus stops, etc. Also on the plus side, if he brought Sollux along with him, then he could kill two birds with one stone - advertise for Gamzee AND hang out with Sollux. Karkat grabbed his jacket from the door on his way out, getting ready to phone Sollux and let him know of the little bet he had with Gamzee.

 

"So let me get this straight, instead of hanging out and doing something cool, we're putting up flyers for your friend's potential band - despite the fact you know nothing's going to come of it?" Sollux asked, his hands in his coat pockets as Karkat stapled one of the ads to a telephone pole, with little tabs that could be ripped off the bottom that had the location and time for the audition on them. The location being Sollux's house, though Karkat assured him that nobody would show up, otherwise Sollux wouldn't have agreed.

 

"That's exactly what we're doing. What a fast fucking learner you are, Sollux." Karkat said, looking back at Sollux.

  
"...Am I even going to ask why?" Sollux replied, snow crunching under their feet as Karkat moved over to the next spot with a stack of papers in his hand.

  
"Well, I know It's partly because I want to be able to tell him 'I fucking told you so' when he forgets that he ever even wanted to be in a band,"

  
"Riiight. Very Karkat-esque."

  
"But also because he's my friend, and if this really is something he wants to do, then I guess I should at least have a hand in it - because he won't fucking do it himself otherwise."

  
"Touching." Sollux finished, looking at the poster he'd made. It was very simplistic, listing a date, time, and location to show up to for an audition, but since the band didn't actually have a name, 'GAMZEE MAKARA'S MARVELLOUS FUCKING WONDER-BAND OF MOTHERFUCKERS' was written as a substitute name, which was the exact example Karkat gave when telling Sollux to 'make it stupid like something Gamzee would say'. It was also worth noting Karkat had explicitly told Sollux to mention on the ad that the aforementioned name wasn't going to be the final name the band settles on, under ANY circumstances. Just a placeholder. He wouldn't let his friend do that.

 

"Well, I'd join, but I'm about as musical as a plank of wood." Sollux laughed, walking away with Karkat.

  
"You could play the fucking bassoon for all Gamzee cares, I'm sure. I doubt anybody even stops to look at these things so he'll need all the hands he can get." Karkat shrugged, heading off to the next spot with Sollux in tow.

 

A street performer standing on the street corner had been listening in on their conversation whilst tuning his guitar, but decided to just remain put until they left. He was much too shy - too timid to go up and talk to them directly about it, so waiting for them to leave before he looked at the flyer suited him just fine.

 

He carried the guitar over, reading the advertisement with a curious look on his face. He wasn't exactly sold by the apathy the flyer expressed, but it did say that they needed _any_ kind of musician, not to mention that there were about 5 tabs on each flyer, and they had quite a few of them, so he didn't feel too selfish in taking one. [Tavros](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4d/d8/65/4dd865d946626930469e34125b434483--grubs-homestuck-trolls.jpg) smiled to himself, excited at the idea of being able to play with other people for once, instead of resigning himself to busking on the street. His desire to make music and have a group of people with a shared interest that he could call his friends greatly overwhelmed his anxiety about showing up for the audition. This might have been the only chance he would ever get, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to seize it.

 

He smiled, walking along the street with the number in his hand, clutching it against his chest feeling all warm inside. His eyes widened when he noticed he was crushing the paper, and he quickly attempted to smooth it out again.

 

Elsewhere, a couple walked along the sidewalk with linked arms.  
"Do you see anything you like?" The taller woman asked, stopping outside of a store window.

  
"Hmm. Not here." The other woman said, cupping her hands around her face against the glass so she could look inside. "Seems kinda tacky if you ask me." She said, stepping back.

  
"Well, Rose, how am I supposed you buy you _any_ manner of gift if there's simply nothing you want?" [Kanaya](https://orig00.deviantart.net/208d/f/2014/090/0/7/untitled_by_xtanuki-d7ce9bc.png) asked, squeezing Rose's hand as she walked with her further down the busy street. Rose just laughed, looking up at her.

 

"These things just can't be rushed. Trust me, if we look for just a little longer we'll find something perfect. That's just how this works." Rose said as she planted a kiss on Kanaya's cheek, lightly swinging their hands forwards and backwards.

 

"Well, may we at least stop for a drink? Or something to eat? We've been at this for quite a while." Kanaya asked, stopping to take both of Rose's hands with her head tilted to the side.

  
"You _do_ raise a good point. We're right outside of a coffee shop too, so... That's convenient." Rose said, nodding to the establishment behind her.  
Kanaya smiled as she tilted Rose's chin up and pecked her on the lips before heading inside. However, as Kanaya was already halfway through the door, something caught Rose's eye.

 

"Hold on a second." Rose called out, rushing over to the door, looking at a flyer that had been rather insultingly placed over one of the coffee shop signs already present on the door. Whoever put that up was either not very fond of the place, or was simply far too gung-ho about where they were sticking it to care.

 

"Marvellous Wonder-band of motherfuckers? It's a band calling for auditions." Rose said, her face lighting up with excitement as she looked over the flyer, Kanaya halfway through the door.

  
"And they have a rather eloquent name. Coffee?" She said, not quite sure where Rose was going with what she was saying.

  
"You play bass." Rose added, almost bouncing on her heels with excitement. At that, Kanaya knew she was going to suggest that she audition, so she just began walking into the coffee shop to find a seat. "You might have fun!" Rose called after her. "What have you got to lose? About an hour of your time if it doesn't go the way you expect it to? Come on!" Rose moaned as she followed after her, sitting opposite Kanaya at the table she'd selected. Kanaya sighed, looking into Rose's eyes as she put her elbows on the table, resting her head in her palms.

 

"I'd continue talking about how I'd have to refuse as I'm not quite sure I'd fit in, but I know you've already torn off one of those slips of paper from the advertisement, haven't you?" Kanaya said, sighing, but cracking a slight smile.

  
"I have." Rose smirked, sliding it over to her across the table.

 

 

"Equius, look! What is it, a concert poster? Who's playing?!" [Nepeta](https://orig00.deviantart.net/9c49/f/2013/190/d/c/human_nepeta_by_cakiebakie-d6cq9d6.png) asked excitedly, jumping up as she tore the entire flyer down from the bus shelter, looking over it.

 

"Nepeta, I really don't think that was for you to take dow--" Equius was interrupted by a loud gasp escaping Nepeta. "It's a band! And they need _my_ help!" Nepeta said, waving it around, but making sure to not let Equius read the name of the band, lest he faint from the profanity, or something equally as ridiculous.

 

"Yours specifically?" Equius asked, still confused about the nature of the flyer.

 

"They need musicians! Well, my guitar playing is as you said, pawsitively furocious, and they sound awesome! It's a match made in Heaven!" Nepeta said, folding up the paper to put it in her pocket. "I'm gonna audition tomorrow! What do you think, Equihiss?" Nepeta said more than in her element with the whole auditioning thing. She'd always wanted to play music with other people.

 

Nepeta's jacket was covered in sewn-on patches from various different bands, and her jeans were completely ripped up, despite the cold weather. "I think you're going to audition regardless of what I think." He said, holding his hand over his face. "As happy as I am at this sudden burst of enthusiasm, please do understand I have quite a bad feeling about this, Nepeta." Equius added, maintaining a cautious expression. He didn't mean to come off as overbearing, he just wanted to look out for her. Nepeta understood that, and was grateful to have such a caring best friend, but boy it could sometimes get her goat.

 

Nepeta looked down and then back up at him, folding her arms. "But you think efurrything's a bad idea, Equius! This might turn out to be amazing!" She said, bouncing up and down with her hands clasped together. "Please, please just try and be even the tiniest bit excited for me?" She asked with a pout, adjusting the cute blue hat on her head.

  
"I-... Well, as you wish, I suppose. I shall escort you there tomorrow, though if there's any kind of trouble, please don't hesitate to call for me so I may diffuse the situation..." Equius said, nervously wiping his forehead.

 

Nepeta threw her arms up victoriously, pumping her fist. "YES! Thank you thank you thank you!" She called out loudly before continuing to walk with Equius, taking the flyer out to look at it again with a wide grin across her face, spread from ear to ear. "What is this ensemble called, might I ask?"  
"The flier says 'Gamzee Makara's Marvellous Wonder-Band of Mother--... Fiddlestickers." She said, looking up at him, barely able to censor herself. But even that seemed to offend Equius.

 

"Oh dear..." He said, shaking his head.

 

 

Karkat laid in bed, fast asleep well into the early hours of the day. Had it not been for Gamzee excitedly barging into his room, he probably would have slept for a few hours more. "Karbro, you need to wake the motherfuck UP right now. The most wicked of shit is about to be _kicked_." Gamzee said, kneeling by his bedside, shaking him back and forth.

 

"W-Wha..? What the fuck..? Get the fuck out of my room, Gamzee!" He said, trying to pull his covers up over his head.

  
"That Sollux dude just called to say a whole bunch of musical lookin' motherfuckers showed up at his door. You gotta come with." Gamzee said, standing up, already dressed up and ready to leave the house.

 

"Wait, are you serious? Those flyers fucking worked?" Karkat said, sitting up slowly. "You have got to be shitting me." He said, groaning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you managed to read to the end - then thanks! I'd been meaning to start this off for a while now, so it was fun to get the first chapter down! The first chapter was just to help the set up and introduce a few characters briefly, so I'm excited to get to write about the interactions and band-related shenanigans that will follow! Feedback is appreciated, as always!
> 
> P.S. None of the art used belongs to me. I just wanted to provide reference images for the main 5!


	2. Give It All

# Take It From The Top

"You said nobody would show up!" Sollux said in a snappy yet hushed tone, one hand on his head as he peeked through the lock on the door leading to his garage. All of the new recruits were sat in there, talking amongst themselves. How dare they.

 

"I'm as fucking shocked as you are!" Karkat shouted back through the phone, sitting on a crowded bus with Gamzee at his side, who was content to just sit there, gently drumming his hands on his thighs.

 

"Then stop being shocked and start being sorry! I wouldn't have put my address on there if I'd known that people actually fucking READ those damn things, you asshole!" Sollux said, his lisp coming out even more now that he was angry, and therefore less conscious of how he sounded. He paced back and forth, groaning. He had 3 musicians sitting in his garage ready to 'jam' with all their equipment, and he didn't have the faintest fucking idea what to do about it.

 

"Well, look we're coming as fast as we can alright? Just don't blow a fucking gasket before we do. Bye." Karkat said back, hanging up. This was going to be interesting.

 

"So, any of you guys maybe wanna jam? I'm sure that Pawllux won't mind if we get plugged in before the others show up!" Nepeta said, kneeling down as she flipped open her guitar case to reveal a scratched up bluesy-looking green guitar, complete with F-Holes and a sticker that was beginning to peel off slapped across the body, baring the visage of a cartoony cat.

 

"I-I'm not too sure... This is an audition after all, right? We're not really in the band yet. Wouldn't they think it was rude if we all started to play stuff?" Tavros said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  
"Tavros does have a point. Maybe we shouldn't start until we're explicitly told to. I'd hate to jeopardize the audition over something so minor." Kanaya said, her own case still on her back. Nepeta just grumbled, closing the case again as she sat down on the cold concrete floor beside it.

 

"But uh, maybe we could get to know each other..? That could be fun, right?" Tavros suggested, speaking quietly as he sat down on an amplifier, looking between the two other musicians present.

 

"That might be wise, since there's a good chance we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other after all. The most we know about each other is our names." Kanaya said, folding her arms with a smile.

 

"Oh, _yes!_ We can all take turns to say something! What instruments can you guys play? I write a lot of songs and stuff, but I'm more of a guitarist purrsonally." Nepeta said with a smirk, bringing her knees up to her chest to wrap her arms around them.

 

"Oh well uh, I'm a guitarist too actually!" Tavros said, nodding to the guitar he'd stood up against the garage door.

 

"Dibs on lead guitar!" Nepeta beamed, her arm shooting up with a giggle. Nepeta was far too eager to shred for her to pass up an opportunity to snatch the role of lead.

 

"Well uh, that's fine. I don't actually do much of those, how you say... Wicked-crazy guitar solos." Tavros said in a hushed tone, putting his hands up to do a very brief and awkward air guitar solo to convey his point. Kanaya put her hand on his shoulder, patting it gently.

 

"There's absolutely no shame in that you know. Rhythm is _very_ important." Kanaya reassured, still smiling.

 

"Um..." He stammered back, looking at her hand.

 

"What about you, Kanaya?" Nepeta tilted her head to the side, looking up at her with a curious expression across her face. Kanaya looked down in thought for a moment before stepping away from Tavros back to where she was originally stood. "Well, I'm afraid all I've come here with is a bass guitar, so apologies if you were expecting a multi-instrumentalist of me. Though many times my girlfriend has tried to teach me to play the violin, but to no avail." Kanaya said, taking the case off of her back to hold it with both hands. "But didn't you say you write songs? That sounds rather interesting." Kanaya leaned down to look at her, seeming to show an interest in Nepeta's mention of song writing. Someone so cute looking _must_ write songs of equal adorability.

 

"Yup! Purrhaps you'd like to hear one? Usually they're about me killing stuff!" Nepeta beamed, getting ready to take her guitar out once more.

 

Or not.

 

"That's... Macabre." Tavros said during the brief silence, looking between them.

 

"No, no. That's quite alright dear. I just-- The cat on your shirt, and your guitar. I'd assumed you perhaps might have prepared some sort of ballad about... Er, playful kittens." Kanaya said, giving a shrug as Nepeta began to move for her guitar case again. She wasn't even trying to be insulting - She genuinely assumed kittens came into the equation.

 

"Oh! Well, I do have one about _playful kittens_ killing stuff!" Nepeta said even more enthusiastically, before she let out a chirp, being somewhat startled by a sneeze.

  
"Do you uh... Have cats?" Tavros asked, holding his sleeve up to his face.

  
"...I might." Nepeta said as her face changed into a more curious expression again, sitting up on her knees, looking at him.

 

"It's my uh-, my Cat allergies." He said, looking down at her.

  
"Oh! Apawlogies, Tavros!" Nepeta frowned, brushing her sleeves to get any strays hairs off of her jacket. Technically, she had no cats, but the neighbourhood strays were as good as her own with how much she played with and fed them. Tavros just smiled, giving her a wave to indicate that it was fine.

 

The trio's attention was turned to the door opening.

 

Tavros let out a shocked noise as his guitar hit the ground with a _THUNK_ , Karkat and Gamzee wasting no time in entering, Sollux hanging around behind them - glaring before skulking away.

 

"Fuck. He wasn't kidding, people really did show up." Karkat whispered to Gamzee as he looked around the room at the potential band members. Gamzee was busy just looking at them with a cheery smile, scratching his messy hair as Karkat thought of what to do. "Alright, I guess now Gamzee's going to have to decide which of you get to-"

 

  
"You're all hired." Gamzee said, looking around the room at his new bandmates. Tavros' face lit up with excitement, and Kanaya's lips curled into a smirk. Nepeta just threw her hands in the air with a satisfied _"WOO!"_

 

"What? Gamzee you can't just-" Karkat was interrupted by Gamzee further musing about the band to himself.

  
"So I spy with my motherfuckin' eyes two guitarists and a bassist. We're short a singer." He said, looking around. Neither Nepeta, Kanaya, or Tavros spoke up so he assumed himself to be correct. Gamzee turned to Karkat, looking down at him.

  
"Oh no. No no no. I know EXACTLY what you're going to fucking say, and no. I can't sing for your fucking band." Karkat said, putting his hands up defensively.

  
"Wow! A singer _too_?" Nepeta gasped as she clasped her hands together, beaming up at Karkat.

  
"No, I'm not--"

 

"So... We're a full band now?" Tavros asked, putting his hands up to his face. It was like a dream come true!

  
"I'm-"

  
"We sure are, my honorary motherfuckers. I'm Gamzee, and the stoical motherfucker responsible for this magic-fuckery is Karkat." Gamzee smiled as he slowly made his way over to a simple drumkit that was sitting in the corner of the garage, gathering dust - Sollux's brother's old kit. Karkat just sighed, watching as Gamzee fished out a microphone from the dark recesses of Sollux's garage.  The left over instruments were all a result of Mituna and Latula's failed attempts at starting a garage band. It had all been sitting there in disuse ever since.

 

Karkat reflected on his situation as everybody prepared themselves. Was he really about to join a band? _Gamzee's_ fucking band? There were probably worse uses of his time - like working in that fucking coffee shop and just doing nothing at home all day. Gamzee knew Karkat could sing - and his natural shoutyness should help with the music he assumed they were going to play, so it wasn't like he was afraid of turning out to suck. Not that he wasn't convinced the band wouldn't suck anyway. He looked around, the other band members looking at him expectantly. Was he _really_ going to do this?

 

"Yeah. Sure." Karkat answered himself, watching as each band member began to set their things up. Tavros went over to pick his guitar back up, Kanaya was unzipping her case, and Nepeta was so eager to start playing that she was wearing her guitar in the blink of an eye. Gamzee tossed a mic over to Karkat, which he caught, while the other band members turned their amplifiers on. A low electronic buzz filled the garage as everything began to be switched on. Gamzee tested the drums, dust flying as he hit the snare a couple times with his sticks. Karkat spoke into the microphone, testing it out.

 

"Testing, one two three-Oh my fucking _God_." He said, putting his hand over his face. It suddenly dawned on him that he was actually in a fucking band. This was really happening.

 

"Efurryone ready to jam?" Nepeta grinned, looking around. Everybody seemed ready to go, and while they had nothing prepared it should have been fine. ...Right?

 

Gamzee cleared his throat.

 

**"ONE TWO THREE GO!"**

 

The room erupted into harsh noise, the house almost shaking. Kanaya was playing a very calculated, methodical bassline as Gamzee began hitting the drums as fast and randomly as he possibly could, while Nepeta began dragging the pick up and down over all the strings as she screeched out a high pitched guitar solo, all the while Tavros playing a very calm, serene riff in the midst of all of it. It sounded like shit.

 

"Wait, stop. Stop." Karkat said into the microphone, holding his hand up.

 

"Alright, let's focus on the good news first. The good news being that we now know you can all actually play those fucking things."

 

The band collectively smiled, looking to Karkat.

 

"On the other hand, the bad news is that it sounded like a steaming pile of shit and I'd rather drag my nails up and down a chalkboard relentlessly for the rest of my natural existence."

 

They all looked at their instruments. Kanaya offered a shrug. "He's right you know. That was rather hectic." She spoke up, sitting down on her amp.

 

"Maybe we just suck," Nepeta suggested with a giggle. "There's no shame in that! Some of the best bands suck! Like Primus!"

  
"No, no. that's not it. It's just that there's got to be more method to it than just trying to do everything at once. We need direction. Kanaya, play a bassline." He said, pointing at her with the mic in his hand. She nodded, playing the same thing from before as everyone watched her.

 

"Alright, we're finally starting to make some fucking progress. Gamzee, play along with Kanaya." Karkat instructed as Gamzee started to beat on the drums once again, playing with Kanaya at a reasonably fast pace. For someone who didn't want anything to do with this initially, Karkat was really starting to get into it, and the other members seemed to appreciate his guidance.

 

"Alright, Tavros, now you." Karkat said loudly into the microphone so he wasn't drowned out by the noise. Tavros matched what Kanaya was doing, and before Karkat could even open his mouth again, Nepeta began playing a more rough version of what Tavros and Kanaya had been playing, dancing around with the guitar enthusiastically. Tavros grinned as he joined in with Nepeta, Kanaya nodding her head to the beat. Karkat looked at what he'd caused, Gamzee grinning across the garage at him as he banged on the drums. Karkat almost smiled. It was "interesting" to him, to see how all the pieces had begun to fall into place. Which was his way of saying it was actually pretty fun to be a part of it.

 

The brief jam came to a close, and the band just couldn't help but laugh. Nepeta and Tavros shared a high-five, and Kanaya just clapped.

 

"T-That was actually pretty cool! When's our first concert?" Tavros asked, glancing over to Karkat.

  
"I wouldn't get too eager. We don't even have a fucking name yet. Or any actual songs." Karkat said, leaning back against the wall.

  
"Karkat and the Vampires?" Kanaya offered out, her head tilted to the side.

  
"Er... How about Karkat and the Bullfighters?" Tavros murmured.

  
"Captain Karkat and The Motherfuckin' Miracleworkers?" Gamzee suggested, tapping his foot on the ground.

  
"The Kitten Cuddlers! No, wait! The _Disembowelers!_ Or Karkitty and The Disembowelers! Or--" Nepeta yelled, interrupted by Karkat.

 

"No, no. God, no. I'm vetoing all of those. How about we go for something short, with a nice ring to it?" Karkat crossed his arms, thinking to himself. Kanaya hummed, putting her finger to her lips, before raising it as an idea came to her all of a sudden.

 

"What about Skaia? I mean I'm not quite sure what it means, but--"

  
"Karkat and the Skaias!" Nepeta shouted.

  
"Would you stop fucking putting me in the band name? Skaia was fine on its own." Karkat said, turning his head with an eyebrow raised to express confusion. "Besides, this is Gamzee's band, not mine." Karkat said, pointing at the exceedingly content looking drummer.

 

"Well actually, none of us would be here if it weren't for Karbro. Not to mention he pulled that motherfuckin' leadership shit that straight up fixed our whack sound." Gamzee said, scratching his head with a drumstick. Karkat rolled his eyes.

 

"Right, and you can all thank me later. Are we all in favor of Skaia? Show of hands?" Karkat asked, looking around the garage. Slowly, everybody's hands began to raise in unison. Nepeta's second hand was raised after everybody else's was already up. "Then it's settled. Skaia it is. Everybody take a break so I can grovel at Sollux's feet in apology for likely blowing out his fucking eardrums." Karkat said, exiting the garage.

 

"How did it go?" Sollux asked, looking up at Karkat from the couch as he came in.

 

"Well, I'm now the begrudging leader of a garage band called Skaia. The lead guitarist communicates in fucking cat puns, our drummer has little past experience with the instrument, and everybody's already eager to play a concert." Karkat said, sitting down beside Sollux with a sigh.

 

"Sounds like all the makings of a great punk band, Kar." Sollux said, turning the TV down. "You sounded alright anyway." Sollux added, putting his hands behind his head.

 

"I- Wait what? Are you fucking serious? We suck!" Karkat said, throwing his arms up in pissed off confusion.

  
"Not really. You guys bounced off of each other pretty well. If you wrote a couple songs down you could easily go play some cheap venue locally and get out there." Sollux said, shrugging. "If you want, I could probably find one right now."

 

"Yeah, you can be our manager!" Nepeta said jumping up from behind the couch, which startled both Karkat and Sollux.

 

"GAH! Where the fuck did you come from?!" Karkat asked, looking back at her with a less than pleased expression. Sollux was grinning like an idiot. Manager, huh?

 

"Hehe! Sorry! I just couldn't help but overhear you two were talking about how our band had no songs. I have a few written out we could practice off of!" Nepeta said, looking between them both.

  
"Congratulations, dork, you guys are now a fully qualified rock 'n roll band. Hope you're ready to play to a staggering crowd of about three people." Sollux said, smacking Karkat's shoulder playfully.

 

"Never call it that again." Karkat replied.

 

"Whatever. Anyway, I _guess_ you guys are welcome to practice in my garage as long as you don't make a fucking mess each time." Sollux said, taking out his phone. Karkat was still a little bit shaken. This was happening so fast, and even though he wouldn't admit it, it was exciting being in a band. And as far as he knew, all the members were tolerable. They all seemed to get along pretty well, and the fact that he could hear Kanaya, Tavros, and Gamzee faintly talking about something and joking around with each other in the garage only served as proof.

 

"I'll go see if I can find some shitty dive bar looking for an act." Sollux said, standing up. "It's the least I can do. Since I'm the manager and everything." Sollux smirked as he began walking away.

 

"Now look what you've done. Now he's _never_ going to let that go." Karkat said with his arms folded, looking at Nepeta, who was climbing over the back of the couch to sit where Sollux was.

 

"Purrhaps it'll be good to have somebody taking care of that side of things! That way we can all just focus on the music!" Nepeta said, crossing her arms. "Maybe later I can teach you some of those songs so we can get to hear you sing!" She grinned, sweeping her blonde hair out of her face.

 

  
"Well-..." He was about to object, out of habit, but he actually had to stop and realize he had nothing to object about. That was a pretty sound plan, and it's not like he was doing anything. "I guess we could spare the time to try one out. For the sake of the band." Karkat said, crossing his arms as he looked forward at the TV.

  
"Great! No, actually, it's BETTER than great! _Purrfect_." She said, grinning wide, nudging Karkat before climbing back over the couch. She went back into the garage where the rest of the band were still hanging out as Karkat turned to watch her go. She was... Odd. But it didn't exactly bother him. She was strange in the nicest way possible.

 

"Thanks for letting us use your garage, Sollux. And I guess I'm sorry that this whole band thing actually worked out too." Karkat said, standing outside, exchanging a few last words with Sollux before everybody left to head home and call it a day.

 

"It's fine - Now that I know I have managerial authority over your band." Sollux grinned, leaning on the doorframe.

 

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, asshole. Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow to rehearse a few songs that Nepeta wrote." Karkat said, nodding behind himself at Nepeta, who was milling about on the sidewalk with the other band members waiting for Karkat.

 

"You'd better, because I found a spot for your band to play at. Asshole."

 

Karkat's eyes widened. "Are you fucking kidding me? You know we're not ready to play a gig." He narrowed his eyes, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. Sollux just laughed.

 

"Then you'd better rehearse fast, because it's in two days." Sollux said, barely able to contain the hysterical laughter that he was trying so very hard to hold back. Karkat rolled his eyes, groaning.

 

"I hate you so fucking much." He sighed. "Where is it?" He asked, almost wishing he hadn't.

 

"The fair's in town. I told them you were this incredible up and coming punk rock band, and they didn't ask a fucking thing." Sollux said, standing up straight as he patted his own chest. "So you should be thanking me."

 

Karkat just turned around, walking over to his bandmates. "Whatever. Bye, Sollux. Same time tomorrow." He said, looking back at him. "Go forth! And make me money!" Sollux called out, starting to close the door.

 

"You're not the fucking manager!" Karkat shouted back before the door slammed shut. What an asshole, yet a great best friend. Kanaya, Tavros, Gamzee, and Nepeta were all looking at Karkat, waiting for him to tell them what was going on.

 

"So Sollux found us a concert--" The band began to cheer, having to be quietened down by Karkat. "Yeah, in theory that's great, but we seriously need to get our heads down and learn some shit. So is everybody in favor of doing this again at the same time tomorrow?" He asked.

  
"Fine by me." Kanaya said, nodding.

  
"Yeah!" Nepeta said as she fixed her hat with a grin.

  
"Oh! Uh, I'm up for it!" Tavros said rather sheepishly, leaving only Gamzee.

  
Gamzee was just smiling the same satisfied smile he always smiled, before nodding and giving a thumbs up.

 

"Let's all go get something to eat to celebrate!" Nepeta said, grabbing both Karkat and Gamzee by the wrist, tugging them along the sidewalk. "Come on guys!" She called out to Kanaya and Tavros, who happily followed behind.

 

Karkat pulled his hand free from Nepeta's grip, walking alongside her and Gamzee. He had to admit, he was pretty excited. This could be the beginning of something amazing. And if it wasn't? It was still something to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's interested, I just thought I'd include this down here:
> 
> I intend/intended to have the five band members represent a different side of punk in their styles, to keep them kind of varied and individual from each other.
> 
> [Tavros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er4Gx7x_bVM) I wanted to be like one of the more emotional or sensitive punk bands, like AJJ for example, or Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains.
> 
> [Gamzee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvZ9dwBokQ) was the most obvious choice for the "get fucked up and have a good time" aspect of it, like FIDLAR, or Wavves.
> 
> [Kanaya](https://youtu.be/N8n6k8QcU3k?t=13) I couldn't bring myself to have her as anything other interested in older 'goth' bands, like Bauhaus or Sisters Of Mercy.
> 
> [Nepeta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU6ZQWnznfU) HAD to be hardcore punk like Dead Kennedys or Minor Threat because of how energetic she is. 
> 
> Lastly, [Karkat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTyNvD8Jaos) I felt fit in most with grunge, like Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins, simply because he's so moody. Also plaid.


	3. You Got A Killer Scene There, Man

# The First Gig

"Alright, band meeting in session."

 

"Er, I thought this was lunch..." Tavros said, looking at Karkat questioningly. Nepeta looked between them, holding a chicken wing with both hands.

 

"Yeah, I thought we were at the diner beclaws we were having lunch?" She joined in the discussion before unceremoniously biting into the meat, clearly very hungry with how impatiently she tore the meat from the bone.

 

Karkat sighed, putting his hand up to his face. "No, it's still lunch. But since we're all here it's a meeting as well because we have shit to talk about." He said, not having touched anything on his plate. Kanaya opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing. Though after about a second of silence, she then decided to speak up.

 

"Karkat, I'm afraid I must side with Tavros and Nepeta on this one - This feels a lot more like lunch, as taking us to the diner we've been eating at every lunchtime for the past few days doesn't have the professional air one might expect of a band meeting." Kanaya said, a knife and fork in both hands.

 

"It's _STILL_ fucking lunch, alright? God, when they invent time travel I'll remember to go back and put my boot up past-Karkat's ass for not clarifying that we were probably going to talk about important stuff at the diner too, okay?" Karkat said, waving his hand before leaning against the window with a sigh. Karkat and Gamzee sat on one side, while Nepeta, Kanaya, and Tavros all sat opposite.

 

"Sounds good!" Nepeta said with a mouthful of food, reaching across the table with her hand out for Karkat to shake as though they'd reached an agreement, only he didn't acknowledge it. Gamzee slapped it as though she were waiting for a high-five, which initially confused her, but she accepted it with a smile, sitting back in her seat.

 

"Anyway. I need you all to pay attention." Karkat said, sitting up again with his arms folded. "We have a concert later today. This isn't Sollux's garage anymore - people are actually going to see us play. I mean, not many people, since nobody knows who the fuck we are, but if we play well enough, we might get more people watching us next time." Karkat said, pushing his plate forward so he could put his elbows on the table.

 

"This is going to be a walk in the fucking park, alright? So don't worry about it, or you might fuck up and then we'll _all_ look like assholes." He finished, looking around at the band. Everybody seemed to be listening closely, apart from Nepeta, who was dipping a piece of chicken into a puddle of ketchup on her plate. "Nepeta, did you get any of that?" Karkat asked, a sigh escaping him.

 

"I think so!" She said, dropping the food back down as she looked up at Karkat with a nod."

  
"Alright, then what did I say?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

  
"Um... Get on stage, start kicking ass and taking down names?" Nepeta asked, admittedly having not paid that much attention. She got the idea though.

  
Karkat just sighed. "Close enough. Does anybody have any questions?" He looked around, seeing nobody's hand was raised. "Great. That's fucking grand. Then that means we all know what we're doing and nobody needs to be reminded what instrument they're playing or whatever the fuck." Karkat said, looking around the table as everybody finished their lunch.

 

"So what's our plan of attack, motherfucker?" Gamzee asked, looking at Karkat as he leaned as far back in his seat as he possibly could, to the point that he may have been beginning to slouch under the table.

  
"The plan is to go home and have a few hours to relax. Maybe tell a friend that we're playing and see if you can't bring them with you. We'll meet back up at Sollux's house in approximately... 4 hours. Is that okay with everyone?"

 

"Of course."  
"Yep!"  
"Hell yeah, motherfucker."  
"S-Sure!"

 

A few moments later, once everybody had finished their lunch, the bill was split and everybody was going their own ways for the time being. Each of them were nervous about playing an actual gig as a real band, but damn if it wasn't exciting. As neither of them had much going on, Tavros, Karkat, and Gamzee all left to head back to Sollux, whilst Kanaya made her way back to Rose and Nepeta made plans to meet up with Equius. They both had enough time to make a brief social interaction before the gig, so both felt it couldn't hurt to hang out for a little while to keep their spirits high!

 

After roughly ten minutes of walking, Kanaya was outside Rose's home, reaching out to ring the doorbell. The door opened almost as fast as the bell chimed, and Rose was stood holding it open with a grin.

 

"Back from lunch?" She asked, inviting Kanaya inside. Kanaya smiled back at her, taking off her scarf as she made her way in.

 

"I felt I could use a boost in morale in preparation for the gig later." Kanaya said as she headed straight for the living room, sitting down in an armchair where she was greeted by a black cat jumping up into her lap.

 

"Will Jaspers suffice?" Rose asked with a smirk, kneeling down beside the chair. Kanaya hummed in consideration, scratching under his chin.

 

"He's cute, but I expect talking to you will prove more effective. Are you going to come watch us play at all?" Kanaya asked, looking down at her girlfriend from the chair. Rose frowned, looking at the ground. Something seemed to be troubling her.

 

"I can't..." Rose said with a disappointed sigh, to which Kanaya frowned back at, but before she could even think about consoling Rose and telling her that it was alright, she looked up at her, laughing. "Of course I'm coming! Do you really think I'd miss your band's first concert? I wouldn't miss that for the world!" She said, reaching up to hook her arm around the back of Kanaya's neck, pulling her close so she could kiss her. At the sudden movement, Jaspers got up and jumped down from the chair, walking off elsewhere.

 

Kanaya pulled away from the kiss, smiling. "That's sweet of you. I'm sure Karkat would appreciate an extra head in the crowd. He seems so convinced that nobody's going to show any interest in us." Kanaya said, sitting back in the chair.

  
"I don't know who wouldn't. One day you guys are all going to reach the point, your zenith, where you're selling out venues and people are coming from miles around just to hear you play your wonderful songs." Rose cooed, standing up to sit on the arm of the chair.

 

"I appreciate the words of encouragement, Rose." Kanaya grinned, putting an arm around Rose's waist.

 

" _And..?_ " Rose said, her lips curling into a smirk once more.

  
"And what?" Kanaya asked confused. Rose giggled, kissing the top of her head.

  
"And you owe me a great deal of thanks for convincing you to audition for the band. Look at all the fun you're having with your new friends!"

 

Kanaya pondered on that for a moment. She guess she did owe Rose thanks. She'd never really considered that the rest of the band were her friends now, but she guessed Rose was right. They were hanging out, getting lunch together, talking, laughing. If Rose hadn't have been so adamant she auditioned, she'd probably have never met any of them, and she definitely wouldn't have found something new that she was passionate about doing.

 

"Thank you, Rose." Kanaya smiled, closing her eyes as she pulled her close again.

  
"You're very welcome." Rose replied.

 

 

"...-And then we're gonna go on stage, and Karkitty said we're going to kick _EFURRYBODY'S_ ass!" Nepeta said, thrashing around and punching the air enthusiastically as Equius watched in confusion, sitting on a park bench.

 

"Nepeta, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you being around a fairground that has such a high concentration of combat in one place." He said, ripping off a piece of bread to feed the local ducks as he pondered the description Nepeta had just given him of the event. Equius had an issue with taking things a little too literally, but with the amount of times Nepeta had made allusions to ass kicking, it was hard to blame him.

 

"Oh, Equihiss, we're not _really_ gonna be kicking people's butts. It was just a figure of speech!" She said, tilting her head to the side as she stopped moving around, looking at him. "You should still come though! The only songs we're going to be playing are the ones I wrote, so you'll be able to sing along!" She said, sitting down next to him. "I'm kind of the songwriter too." She said, tilting her head back as she looked up at the sky as ducks swarmed around them, pecking up bits of bread.

 

"Well, seeing as I don't really have much else to do today... I'd be delighted to, if not just to keep you out of trouble." Equius said with his arms folded. Nepeta laughed, looking back at him.

 

"Oh, I won't get into trouble! I think!" She said, not completely sure herself. Equius rolled his eyes, putting an arm around her for a moment before returning it to his side.

 

Nepeta stood back up, pacing in front of the bench with snow crunching under her boots. "I hope the first gig goes well though! I'm still really hoping we'll make it big, so we can go on tour and release albums and stuff! Maybe we'll get super famous one day!" Nepeta said, looking down at Equius, who gave her an uneasy look. Nepeta had a wild imagination and big aspirations. She always did, and Equius kind of felt responsible to keep her a little more grounded in reality, no matter how hard it was for him to do so.

 

"You know you can't rely on becoming famous, Nepeta. No matter how well you and your new friends play, that's never a guarantee." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder. Nepeta gave him a sceptical look, putting her hand back on his shoulder in return.

 

"I know, I know..." She said, shrugging. She wouldn't say it out loud, but whenever Equius told her that she couldn't do something like that, it always made her more determined to try harder to make it a reality. "But Equihiss will still come to the gig, won't he?" She asked, sitting down beside him again.

 

"Naturally." He replied, giving her a hug. She held onto him happily, still thinking about the gig later. How exciting!

 

 

"So are you guys ready to get fucking famous or _what?_ " Sollux grinned, holding his hand up for a high-five, which Tavros and Gamzee both went for with a cheer, resulting in a three-man high-five. A tri-five. Karkat groaned, sitting down on Sollux's couch.

 

"I already told you guys we're not going to get famous. We're barely going to get any fucking money from it. We're just doing this for fun." He said, looking back up at Sollux. Tavros rubbed the back of his neck, looking around before settling his eyes on Karkat.

  
"Well actually... It's kinda important to keep an open mind about that sort of thing... Like, thinking about things optimistically!" He said, looking back at Sollux and Gamzee, who both nodded.

 

"There's nothing wrong with being optimistic as long as it's within the realms of plausibility. Just don't get your fucking hopes up." Karkat fired back, turning the TV on as he laid across the couch.

 

"I don't wanna alarm a motherfucker, but the concert's in 2 hours and Nepeta and Kanaya are missing." Gamzee said, looking around the room.

 

"I'm... pretty sure they'll show up!" Tavros said, patting Gamzee's back reassuringly.

 

"They better," Sollux chimed in. "Because the future of my band depends on it!" He saidwith a laugh, before finishing it off with a snort, pushing his glasses back up.

  
"It's not your fucking band, and you're not the fucking manager." Karkat sat up, pointing directly at Sollux. Tavros raised his hand, speaking up again.

  
"U-Uh, he kind of is... He set the gig up after all..." Karkat turned to Tavros, and was about to cuss and swear in his direction too, but couldn't bring himself to. Tavros was far too timid enough as it was, so he didn't want to freak him out any more than he likely already was.

 

"Yeah well--... Sollux can believe whatever he wants to believe. As for Nepeta and Kanaya, we'd better fucking pray they do show up. We can't play any of those songs without a bassist or a lead guitarist. In fact I doubt we can play anything."

  
"We can't play without them because they're part of the motherfucking band." Gamzee corrected.

 

Karkat was about to say something back, but he didn't. He knew Gamzee was right. Instead, he just settled with "Yeah. That too."

 

20 minutes after, Nepeta barged in, and a further 2 minutes after that, Kanaya followed suit. "Terribly sorry for the delay... Is the gig still on? I do hope you weren't all waiting for too long."  Kanaya called out, immediately rushing into the garage to find her bass. Before Karkat could make a sarky comment about her lateness, he sat up, realizing that nobody else had gotten their equipment out of the practice space while they were sitting around waiting.

 

"Fuck, everybody grab your shit!" He said, rushing in after Kanaya. Nepeta, Gamzee, and Tavros followed after, picking up their instruments.

 

"Wait, none of us have a car! How are we going get all this stuff there in time?" Nepeta asked, putting her guitar case on. A horrible realization washed across Karkat's face. It dawned on him that they were going to have to ride the bus with a fuckton of musical equipment, and they were going to have to lug it all the way to the bus stop.

 

"Fuck my fucking life." He said, packing everything small that could fit in a bag into a backpack: Pedals, a microphone, drumsticks, etc. "We're really, really going to have to make an effort to get this shit to the fair."

 

 **" _CHARGE!_ "** Nepeta called out as she booted open Sollux's front door, leaving the house with two amplifiers in both of her hands, one in each, and her guitar strapped to her back. She rushed out onto the street, followed by the rest of the band. Kanaya grunted and groaned, struggling to carry a single amp with her bass on her back as Gamzee, Karkat, and Sollux followed her out with drumkit pieces in their arms. Everybody with the exception of Nepeta was letting out strained, uncomfortable sounds as they struggled to lug everything to the bus stop. Tavros lagged behind, holding only a microphone stand and his own guitar.

 

Waiting for the bus was the worst part. Just standing around silently doing nothing in anticipation of the bus' arrival. It would soon be made worse by the van that had pulled up on the side of the road near them, the window slowly rolling down. "Are you guys... A _band_?" The woman driving the van asked. She had long blonde hair, and only one eye.

 

"We might be. Who the fuck are you?" Karkat asked, looking at her with a drum still in his arms.

  
"Well it just so happens that we're a band too!" She replied, grinning at them. "We're called--"

  
"Vriska Serket and the Funky Bunch!" A bespectacled gentleman with a toothy grin sitting beside her spoke up, holding in a laugh. Vriska turned to look at him, scowling. "John. Shut _UP_." She said quietly, running her finger and her thumb along her lips in a 'zip-it' motion, as if to say 'SHUT YOUR FUCKING TRAP'.

 

"Ignore him, we're called Mindfang." She said with a smug expression, looking at them.

  
"That's very... In your face." Kanaya said, raising an eyebrow.

  
"We _are_ very in your face. And--"

  
Another girl in the van poked her head forward, sitting the furthest away from Vriska. "Who are we talking to exactly?" She asked, her voice somewhat raspy as she pushed up a pair of red sunglasses.

 

John turned to look at her and shrugged. "Beats me. Vriska just said something about making sure our presence is known and--"

 

Vriska turned to look at both of them, clearly very frustrated. "Terezi! ...Guys, would you just stop talking for like, just a few seconds? You're kiiiiiiiinda ruining the intimidating effect this conversation is supposed to be having on these guys, and--"

  
"Uh, you know we can still hear you, right..?" Tavros asked before Vriska immediately threw her hands up in defeat before planting them back down on the steering wheel.

  
"Oh my **GOD** , did I just not get the memo that today's fucking national interrupt Vriska day?" She turned to look at her band. "Did you guys just not think to tell me this CRUCIAL information?" Vriska sighed, her eye almost twitching in frustration. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, before turning her attention back to the rival band.

  
"Soooooooo, you guys on your way to a gig?" Vriska asked, leaning back towards them, her smirk returning to her face.

  
"No, we just take all this fucking gear with us everywhere we go." Karkat said, rolling his eyes. Vriska began to laugh.

  
"Aww, you guys didn't have enough foresight to buy a van like ours so now you're stuck riding the bus?" She said in a mocking tone, giggling to herself.

  
"That sums it up pretty well, actually! Can we have a lift?" Nepeta asked, still holding the amps in both hands.

  
"Sure!" John said, before being interrupted by a stern " _NO._ " from Vriska.

 

Gamzee turned his head, noticing the bus was in view. "Hey, dudes, this bus is like, motherfuckin' upon us." He said, looking at the trio in the van. The van was parked in the zone where the bus needed to stop.

 

"Ugh! Whatever, what I was trying to say was that you guys are losers and we aren't. Bye." She said, rolling the window back up. Vriska looked extremely irritated, and John and Terezi were just smiling and waving, though Terezi was waving in completely the wrong direction. It seemed as though her plan had backfired dramatically.

 

"That was really awkward." Sollux said, looking between the group. "They seemed nice!" Nepeta said, carrying her gear onto the bus, followed by the rest of the band.

 

The other passengers on the bus were giving them strange looks. The entire band could feel the eyes on them. It must have been awfully inconvenient for the other commuters to have so much space taken up by them.

 

Eventually though, they arrived at their destination, dragging their equipment into the fair, groaning and aching all the while. Nepeta was looking in awe at all of the fairground rides, but the rest of the band were far too occupied with straining with the heavy gear to look at anything. A helpful employee who clearly hated their job showed them to the stage they were to be playing on, and they were given 10 minutes to set up.

 

"Alright everybody remember. We know exactly what we're doing, and if by some ungodly stroke of bad luck the fear hits you so bad you forget what you're doing, just try to _look_ like you know what you're doing." Karkat said as everybody set up and plugged their instruments in. Every thump of the drums could be felt in their chests, and the bass was turned up so loud that the vibrations were almost making things rattle. It wasn't quite turned up loud enough for that though. Nepeta and Tavros sat on the edge of the stage, testing their guitars by playing a few chords. The sounds of the band setting up rang throughout the entire fair, and was beginning to turn a few heads.

 

As Karkat was testing the mic, Sollux climbed up onto the stage. "Karkat, I just wanted to let you know that if you fuck this up, it won't matter because barely anybody's watching." He said, pulling him into a hug. Karkat grunted in surprise, just standing there as he did.

  
"Touching." He said, pushing him off once he'd decided it had gone on long enough.

 

"I was just testing the microphone. If that's alright with you." He said to Sollux, clearing his throat. "Oh yeah, of course! Can I see that?" Sollux said, taking the microphone.  
"I am the manager, please direct any financial queries to me--!" Karkat shoved him away, almost smirking.

 

"You're lucky nobody was around to hear that. Now let me set up for fuck's sake." He said, looking down so he didn't accidentally do something stupid. Like laugh, or smile.

"Good luck!" Sollux called out, jumping back down into the slowly forming group of people. Equius had arrived a few moments later, and Nepeta was waving wildly at him with both hands. Rose too, was among the few heads standing in front of the stage, blowing a kiss to Kanaya. Everyone else was a total stranger. It seemed like it was time to play.

 

Karkat looked around, waiting for some kind of prompt to introduce themselves. It seemed like none of the people working at the fair would do it, and Kanaya's gesturing for him to speed things along left him no choice to introduce the band.

 

"We're uh..." He cleared his throat. "We're Skaia, and we're... Going to play some stuff now." He said, not quite sure what to say. Usually he'd mix a couple swears in there but it seemed like doing that at a fairground wasn't the best idea.

 

Nepeta rushed over, grabbing the microphone. "We're Skaia and we're going to _kick your ass!_ " She yelled before she started the band off, beginning to play.

 

Nepeta immediately began to jump around as she began to beat out a fast-paced riff on the guitar, Tavros tried to match what she was playing, struggling to keep up. Gamzee joined in, playing a fast paced beat to accompany the guitars. At almost the same time, Kanaya began to play a thundering bassline that felt like it had enough force behind it to shake the whole stage. That was Karkat's cue to join in. He gripped the microphone with both hands, coming in with vocals that were surprisingly melodic for the way he sounded when he was just taking normally. Sollux crossed his arms, looking up at the band. He was pretending not to look impressed, but it was pretty hard not to be. Even a few of the randoms that stopped by seemed to be enjoying it. Rose cheered, prompting Kanaya to smile down at her as she continued to play, following Nepeta's example to try and be more animate with her stage presence, moving around some. Equius wasn't as blown away as some of the others, as he was only there for his best friend, but it was refreshing to see her looking so at home on the stage. Gamzee just tried to focus on nothing but the drums. For somebody who had never played them before, he seemed to be doing alright. He certainly looked like he knew what he was doing. But in the midst of all of this, by far the most nervous was Tavros, who was just sheepishly playing what he knew he had to play. It would take a few more concerts for him to gain some of that much needed confidence.

 

Nepeta grinned, dropping to her knees as she began to rush straight into an unscheduled guitar solo, picking the strings at an impressive speed. Karkat looked down at her as he sang, confused at first, but part of him was impressed. At first, he felt awkward, but after the first 20 seconds or so it just became second nature. Singing in front of people was just a thing he could do now. It must have helped there were only about 12 people in the crowd though. After about 4 minutes of playing, Gamzee began to beat down on the drums as a finale, which was met with applause from the crowd, which was slowly starting to disperse now that they were done. Rose cheered once more, clapping with her hands above her head. Before long, only Equius, Sollux, Rose, and one other person that nobody recognized remained. The woman gracefully floated over to Karkat, looking up at him as he stood up on the stage. "Excuse me, is this your band? Do you have a manager or somebody I may speak with? Your music was simply wonderful." She smiled, tilting her head to the side. She had somewhat dark skin, and her head was shaven. Sollux was quick to dive into the situation.

 

"Yes! Yes, absolutely! That would be me. Hello." He said, standing proudly with his hands on his hips. Karkat groaned and just went about helping the rest of the band unplug their gear. Why bother?

 

She looked him up and down before offering a hand for him to shake, which he took. "I am Calliope. I was just wondering if perhaps your band would be interested in playing a venue full of people who actually _want_ to hear their music." She said, holding her hands together. There was an unusually benign aura about her. Sollux thought for a moment, before he shrugged. "Yeah sure, why not?" He replied, looking up at the band members.

  
"Excellent! Well, would you please take my contact? My brother and I are always excited to have new acts performing. Thanks again!" She smiled, handing him a business card before walking away. Very professional. Sollux looked at it, tucking it into his pocket. As manager, he decided he'd book it up and then surprise Karkat with it at a later date, like a best friend should.

 

"Equius! How was it?" Nepeta asked, jumping from the stage once she'd packed up her guitar.

  
"It was... Simply electric." He said, looking down at her. It wasn't his kind of scene by any stretch, but he could tell everybody did a good job.

  
"Aw, thanks Equihiss! I'm glad you came!" She said, putting her arms around her extremely strong best friend, pulling him into a hug.

 

 

"That was better than I thought it would be." Rose said, arms folded as she approached Kanaya.

 

"Are you implying you expected us to be bad?" Kanaya giggled, kissing Rose's cheek.

  
"Well... That flyer..." She said in jest, kissing her back. "No, I'm just kidding. You guys were amazing."

 

The ride back home was considerably easier now that they had a few extra hands to help carry the equipment (read: Equius), and after a brief celebration of their first gig back at Sollux's home, Karkat was getting ready to leave. He kneeled down in the garage, opening up his backpack to put his microphone into it when he heard the garage door open from behind him.

 

"Hey... Karkat?" Nepeta said, her guitar case on her back and her amplifier in her hand. Nepeta seemed deceptively strong, to just be lugging that thing around so casually.

 

"Huh? Uh... Yeah?" Karkat said back, rising to his feet.

 

"Oh! Well I was just wondering... Would you want to hang out later? I was thinking maybe we could just do something together, if that sounds like fun." She said with a shrug. He looked down at himself and then back at her. He didn't have anything better do anyway, and there were worse people to hang out with, and they _were_ friends now. He shrugged.

 

"You know what? Sure. I need to get home right now though, me and Gamzee need to drop all our shit off. Just call me a little later on and we can... Do whatever it is you do for fun." He said, walking past her on the way out.

 

"Alright, Karkat! I'll find us something fun to do, I purromsie!" She smiled, waving as he left. Karkat waved back.


	4. Sacred Love

# It's Not A Date

 

Nepeta hummed as she sat in front of her mirror, eyes fixed on herself as she brushed her hair. On the dressing table lay two tickets to a band playing a show later on tonight. While Nepeta didn't even know the first thing about the band until today, she'd heard enough of them to tell that she was going to enjoy seeing them live. Hopefully so would Karkat! Besides, hearing new music was just part of the fun of seeing random bands live!

 

Not a moment later, Equius poked his head around the door. He sighed, knocking to make his presence known. "You're still brushing your hair. It's been 10 minutes." He noted, letting himself into the room. Nepeta's interests seemed to conflict with each other. One the one hand, a lot of her bedroom was cat themed, and her bed was completely covered in stuffed animals, yet on the walls hung posters of bands with extremely menacing names, like "SEPULTURA" or "EXTREME NOISE TERROR", with equally as menacing artwork. Gnarly. In the corner, her guitar was sitting proudly on a stand, like it was on display. To say Nepeta liked music would be the understatement of the century.

 

"Oh! I hadn't noticed." Nepeta said, somewhat surprised as she set down the brush on top of the tickets while looking at Equius, unknowingly obscuring them from view.

 

"If you don't mind my asking... What was it you're supposed to be doing later? A date of some description..?" Equius asked, an eyebrow raised. Nepeta's cheeks became lightly dusted with red, blushing very slightly.

 

"It's not a date!" She said with a smile, jumping up off of the seat to face Equius. "It's just me hanging out with Karkat fur a little while. I felt that purrhaps it might be fun to get to know him a little better!" She said, folding her arms. "I bought us both tickets to see a band! They're over ther--"

 

Nepeta stopped noticing she couldn't see the tickets on the dressing table. "No! The tickets!" She said, rushing over. She knelt down by the table, pulling drawers out, launching them back onto the ground destructively so she could rip out all the contents in an attempt to find the two small slips of paper. "Where did I-- Oof!" Nepeta was yanked back carefully by Equius, who stepped over to the table himself, only to lift up the brush and reveal the two tickets. He picked them up, offering them both out to her.

 

"Nepeta, would I be incorrect in stating that you're somewhat nervous about this date?" He asked, scooping up the tickets to hand them to her.

 

"I _am not_ going on a date!" She said, taking the tickets with a grumble, slipping them into her jacket pocket. "You're only saying that beclaws I want to hang out with him! I should be allowed to do that whenever I want, no matter how cute he is!" She said, folding her arms.

  
"But that _is_ what this is about?" Equius said, leaning back against the dressing table, though he swiftly stood up straight once it began to make a creaking sound from the pressure he was putting on it

 

Nepeta shrugged, blushing very slightly once again. "Well... I mean, he _is_ cute. Plus, I bet he's one of those people with hard, cold exteriors, but then you get to know them and it turns out they also have a warm and gooey interior! Like chocolates!" She said, picking up her hat to put it on her head. "But that's not the only reason I'm hanging out with him! We ARE friends y'know!" She said, crossing her arms. Equius just shot her a confused glance, scratching his head.

 

"So... You're not-dating Karkat in the hopes that he... Has the characteristics of a chocolate?" Equius asked, pushing his sunglasses back up. Nepeta just gave him half a smile, nodding. "Sure thing, Equihiss!" Nepeta giggled as she made her way downstairs.

 

"So... How do I look?" She asked, turning back to face Equius once she was stood by the front door. Nepeta often tried her absolute hardest to make it look like she'd just woken up, and as a result would get offended when Equius said she looked great. Other times, she tried to look her best, and would be rather upset when he told her she looked terrible. Not quite sure what look Nepeta was going for today, Equius just settled for giving her a thumbs up.

 

"Please, do remember to be careful on this not-date. You have quite the penchant for getting yourself into trouble when I'm not around, Nepeta." He said, looking down at her. She just laughed, waving him away.

 

"Pfft. Me? Trouble? ...Pawssibly." Nepeta jumped up, kissing Equius on the cheek before opening the front door. "Okay, I'll try not to get killed! Bye, Equius!" She said, waving at him with both hands as she ran backwards down the front lawn, before spinning on her heel to run facing forwards once she reached pavement.

 

She fumbled around in her pockets, pulling out the tickets to make sure she had them. Check! There they were, right in her hand! She put them back, before procuring her phone from the same pocket, getting ready to call Karkat. She sat down on the kerb, cars whooshing past every so often as she scrolled through her contacts to find the name listed as ':33 < karkitty!'.

 

She prefaced most everything she wrote with that cute little face. It was a quirk she'd picked up from countless years of roleplaying as a character of equal cuteness that she'd made up: A two-mouthed cat called Pounce. Typing it out before every message grew on her, and persisted even outside of the little roleplaying sessions with her friends.

 

She took a moment to prepare herself mentally before phoning Karkat, pressing the icon of the telephone after about a second. She sat there, listening to the drone of the ringing tone as she waited for him to pick up.

 

Beep beep. Beep beep.

 

"Who the fuck is this?" Karkat said, his voice coming out grainy and filtered by the phone. Nepeta giggled for a moment.

 

"Karkat! You told me to call you later, so I got your number from Pawllux! I was just wondering, is Karkitty purrhaps... Now ready to hang out with his pal, Nepeta Leijon?" She asked, smirking to herself as she tapped her foot on the ground.

 

Karkat let out a sigh. "The f-...? Did you just fucking talk in third person? I-... Yeah. Sure. Where and when?" Karkat asked, sounding awfully befuddled by Nepeta's speech. He likely just deemed that it was better to not question it and carry on with the conversation as normal. She stood back up, grinning.

 

"Now and here!" She said, walking along the sidewalk with an excitable bounce to her step. "Just kidding, I'll send you the address on Pesterchum and we can meet up there! See you soon!" She said, hanging up before Karkat could even say so much as 'goodbye', running down the street eagerly.

 

"Well that was one fucking way to do it." Karkat said, looking at his phone once she hung up. He sat down on the armchair as the notification sound chimed, alerting him that he had just received a message.

 

"Goin' on that date, motherfucker?" Gamzee asked, laying on the couch half asleep with his hands on his chest.

"It's not a fucking date. Don't call it that." Karkat said, typing away on his phone, adding 'Nepeta Leijon' as one of the sparsely entered names in his contact list. What a rare honor he had bestowed upon her. Gamzee laughed as Karkat reached for his jacket, looking up at him.

 

"Call it what you want, Karbro. Just don't lie to yourself."

 

"What the fuck does that even mean? Do you think you might've been smoking too much again, Gamzee?" Karkat asked, sitting down on the ground to lace his boots up.

 

"No. Never." Gamzee said with a laugh, followed by a cough, followed by him laying back down on the couch.

  
"Right. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, don't trash the place." Karkat said, walking out the front door before closing it behind himself.

 

He zipped up his jacket, opening up the message he'd gotten from Nepeta with his free hand as he started to walk. Right. The club wasn't too far away, and was within walking distance of where he was now. Maybe a 10 minute walk or so. He put the phone back in his pocket, put his hands in his jacket, and just kept waking eyes forward until he reached his destination. Along the way, he was pondering on his current situation. He had enough faith in Nepeta to believe she'd found something relaxing and interesting to watch, and getting to spend a little more time with his bandmate wasn't exactly a negative. Overall, he was feeling pretty positive about hanging out with her. Which was good. Hanging out with somebody while you'd rather be doing something else was just the fucking worst.

 

"Karkat!" Nepeta said, rushing over to him as soon as he came into view. She'd been waiting outside the club for quite a while now. Though, it may have just been her own fault for running all the way there. "I hope you're just as excited as I am, Karkitty!" She said, punching his shoulder lightly. Though even her light punch had caught him off guard and caused him to flinch.

 

"I'm looking forward to seeing what your idea of fun is, if that counts." He said, rubbing his shoulder as Nepeta offered out his ticket. He took it, looking at it.

 

"Who are we actually here to see?" Karkat asked, walking to the entrance with her. There, they both presented their tickets to an unenthusiastic looking employee, who unenthusiastically stamped the backs of their hands with a little symbol that denoted that they had paid and allowed them to come and go from inside the club during the show as they pleased, before unenthusiastically sending them on their way inside. The venue was extremely crowded, and dark. The highest concentration of heads was around the bar and the front of the stage. Nepeta beamed.

 

"Actually... I don't really know this band too well." Nepeta said with a shrug, looking at Karkat. That didn't really fill him with too much hope.

 

"Well... Is this at least going to be... Not that intense?" He asked, looking back at her.

 

Nepeta just gave him an awkward smile as if to say: ['Not a fucking chance'.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gooaQ4m65DI)

 

She perked up suddenly as she could hear the band beginning to play, met with cheers from the crowd. "Karkat, quick! It's starting!" She called out, grabbing his hand as she pulled him along, shoving through the crowd in an attempt to get to a reasonable position. Once the first song kicked off, it was like the entire crowd went into overdrive. Hands were in the air and people were jumping up and down, Nepeta included. Karkat watched as Nepeta became so unapologetically into the music as the instruments were played at a volume that at first felt like it was deafening. Everybody could feel the beat of the drums in their feet, each thud feeling like it was resonating through your entire body. The guitars rang through the crowd's ears making it nigh impossible to hear anything else. The stage lights above the band began to flash different colours as the smoke machines went off, making it hard to see the musicians beyond their silhouettes wildly thrashing around. A ring of people beginning to jump into and shove each other formed in the middle of the crowd. Every so often, somebody would be sent hurtling from the pit into the people around it, causing people to stumble, only for them to jump straight back in.

 

Nepeta looked back at Karkat to scream **"THIS IS AMAZING!"** even though it was completely silent over the sound of the band. It was nothing like Karkat had expected, and a lot more intense than the music he was playing with the rest of the band, but it was admittedly a nice atmosphere to be around.

 

The song went into a quiet lull where only the guitarist was still playing, allowing the audience a few brief moments of respite before the song kicked back in at full force, the crowd exploding like an atom bomb, getting even more wild than it had been before. Karkat ducked as a paper cup of beer was thrown overhead across the crowd, booze careening out of the cup in a spiral, soaking a few unlucky people in the audience. Nepeta grabbed hold of Karkat, prompting him to hold onto her in return, looking at him with a wide grin as she began jumping up and down as the stage lights began flashing strobe, which allowed Karkat to see Nepeta's face clearly as she pogo'd up and down, if only for about half a second, every half second. The energy was infectious, and it really didn't take long before he found himself enjoying it too. He didn't smile, but his face showed he was clearly of the same opinion of Nepeta, in that this was really something else.

 

Nepeta stopped jumping as the first song finished to the uproarious cheering of the crowd, leaving them just stood holding onto each other as the lights went up. She smiled at him again, the two blushing before she stepped back, smoke still floating around the room. Almost as quickly as they went up, the lights went back down and began pulsing with the beat of the drums as the next song started, a chugging guitar riff playing.

 

The serenity that came with the interlude - the brief moment of clarity that followed the lights going up and the silence of the instruments, was gone. The intoxicating energy of the music was back, and the crowd became animate once more. Nepeta cupped a hand around Karkat's ear and spoke into it so he could hear her.

 

"Karkat! Watch this!" She said, before pushing through the people standing in front of them, disappearing into the vast expanse of the crowd. What the hell was she doing? Karkat stood there, just admiring the music with a tap of his foot and a nod of his head, waiting for Nepeta to return. About a minute later, he could see a figure rise up in front of the crowd, in the smoke and the flashing lights. It was Nepeta's silhouette. She'd pushed all the way to the front and climbed onto the guard rail separating the crowd from the stage. Nepeta put her hands up triumphantly, swaying and shaking with the music as best as she could whilst standing on the rail, until she eventually lost her balance and fell into the crowd. Karkat was surprised at first, before he realized this was exactly what he should have expected from her, eliciting a laugh from him.

 

Thankfully, nobody saw him do that.

 

It seemed though, like it might be more accurate to say that Nepeta had fallen on top of the crowd instead of fallen into it. She'd gone crowd surfing. People pushed up and passed her backwards as she stretched out her arms, riding the ocean of people back towards where Karkat was stood. He got on the tips of his toes, waving so she could see his head poke up, which caused her to grin back at him. Once she had floated back close enough, Karkat raised his hands, grabbing hold of her sides before trying to lift her down, her feet planting down on an empty space beside him. He just looked down at her, giving her _half_ a smile. Just half. That was a lot, coming from Karkat Vantas.

 

There was something about the way Nepeta danced to the music so enthusiastically that just struck a chord with him. He was happy to see her having so much fun, and really, he was happy that he was having fun with her too.

 

Before long, the concert was coming to an end. At this type of show, Nepeta would more often than not be in the mosh pit from start to finish. And usually, she'd dominate it. Matter of fact, by the end of any show where Nepeta was present, the mosh pit would become a challenge to try and stay in there with her for more than 20 seconds before she either knocked you out of it or you didn't have the energy to carry on. But this time, she was more than happy to abstain from it, for Karkat's sake. He looked the part, but they both knew he wouldn't really be able to hold his own in there. Which was fine by Nepeta! It just meant they got to spend a little more time together!

 

By the time the show was reaching its explosive finale, even Karkat was jumping, much to Nepeta's delight, though only because if he didn't he would be the only person in the crowd who wasn't.

 

The last song reared its head, and typically, it was a slow one. Slow-ish, anyway. This wasn't the sort of band to do slow songs. Nepeta's arms hooked around Karkat's waist, and her head laid against his chest as they both just stood, listening to the calm, chilled out closer. The song was growing increasingly intense, and the crowd did too, but Nepeta and Karkat were still just stood there, refusing to move as they clung to each other, starting to catch their breaths. The whole crowd was moving, jumping up and down all around them, multi-colored lights flashing off. It was something Nepeta wouldn't hesitate to call a perfect moment. Karkat's description wouldn't be far from that either.

 

Both seemed to feel just as much as the other that it was quite a successful not-date. Once the band had stopped playing, people had begun to file out of the club one by one. Some stayed to remain by the bar, but eventually it was just Karkat and Nepeta stood on the floor where the large crowd was amassed just minutes ago, catching their breath as they peeled themselves away from each other.

 

Sweaty, hard of hearing, and out of breath, Nepeta looked at him with a smile, and Karkat looked back. "Wow..." She said, her hair beyond messed up. As was Karkat's, even more so than usual.

 

"I really... I really wasn't prepared for that to be as good as it was."

 

Karkat said, his knees weak from being on his feet for so long. Nepeta grinned, putting her hands in her pockets.

 

"I have this purrticular spot I like to go to after concerts... Come on, I'll show you it so we can talk there!" She beamed at him, and began to walk out, beckoning for Karkat to follow.

 

"...I'm glad you wanted to hang out." Nepeta said, leaning against the stomach-height concrete guard at the edge of the building, looking down at the city below them. Karkat stood next to her, looking down at all the cars going by, the streetlights tinting the snow on the ground orange. It was pretty impressive, seeing that below, the stars above them, and the skyline in between.

 

"...Are we allowed to be up here?" Karkat asked, speaking quietly while looking at her.

 

Nepeta shook her head, smiling. "Nope." She said as she looked down. They were really high up, and the blowing wind was drowning out most of the sound coming from below.

 

"Well uh. Regardless of that. It's an alright spot. And yeah, I'm glad I came," He said, looking up.

 

"It was fun."

 

"I've always wanted to be in a band, since I was little." Nepeta said, looking over at Karkat.

 

"I'm not surprised. It's a pretty common dream." Karkat said back, returning her glance.

  
"I've always wanted to be on the stage though. I can't pawssibly imagine what it's like to go up there, and play your heart out to a room full of people cheering at you from the front to the very back..." She said, tilting her head up to look at the stars.

 

"People who can live that are the luckiest people in the world." She added.

 

"Yeah. Pretty fucking lucky."

 

"Maybe that could be us one day." Nepeta said, smiling at him. Karkat just nodded. He'd been making a point to be cynical at the band's potential to become successful. He felt you need to keep yourself grounded in reality, or the let-down that comes will be too fucking hard when your band goes nowhere. But everybody else seemed so optimistic about it, and Hell, Karkat was having so much fun that even he wanted to believe it might happen too. One day.

 

"...It might be." Karkat said, looking down again. Nepeta just smiled to herself. Her heart was beating fast, and once Karkat felt Nepeta's hand on top of his, so was his. He hadn't really thought of her like that before. He hadn't thought of anybody like that for a while now, but in this situation, it just felt right, regardless of how he felt about Nepeta. He let his hand stay where it was.

 

"How did you know you wanted to start a band?" Nepeta asked, shooting Karkat a curious look.  
"I didn't. I didn't even want to be in the band - I set it up for Gamzee. Me joining was a last minute decision after you and everybody else decided to just assume I was the singer." He said, rolling his eyes. "But, I have to admit I'm kind of glad I joined. It's a lot of fun. And despite you, Tavros, Kanaya, and Gamzee having your... Quirks, you're all-... You're like-..." It was abnormally hard for him to get the words out. "...I guess, you're all good friends?"

 

Nepeta was radiant at that, squeezing his hand. "Aw, thanks, Karkat! I'll take that!" She giggled, knowing he wasn't too good at the whole being heartfelt kinda thing.

 

"And uh... I'm glad you joined too! You're a good singer!" She said, grinning. They remained up their for a few more hours. Chatting.

 

Though much later, their conversation was interrupted by notification sounds coming from Karkat's pocket, startling Nepeta. It sounded like Pesterchum. "Oh! Is that somebody trying to get into contact with you purrhaps?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

 

"What? Oh, yeah. I'll check it later, or something. Don't worry about it." Karkat said, coming away from the edge to look at his phone. Yep, that was pesterchum.

  
"Well, I suppaws we should really be wrapping this up anyway... I had a lot of fun today, Karkat! Whether or not you consider this to have been a date, or just us hanging out. It _was_ a lot of fun, and uh, I hope we can do it again sometime!" Nepeta said, smirking up at him happily. Karkat nodded. It kind of was a date, wasn't it? Karkat didn't mind too much. Nepeta was sweet enough, and he _did_ have an obscene amount of fun.

 

"Right. Me too, Nepeta. ...I'll see you tomorrow, with the rest of the band." Karkat said, holding his hands in his pockets. "Right! Of claws you will! And I'll try and write some new material for us to practice too! A-And I'll message you a little later on! Oh! And--"

  
"Nepeta." Karkat said to help her get back on track, arms folded. She appreciated the nudge in the right direction. When Equius wasn't there to remind her, she had a tendency to get ahead of herself.

  
"Right. Sorry!" Nepeta giggled, turning around to leave. She stopped, looking back at him before reaching up to put her hand on his cheek, quickly pecking him on the lips before rushing off, back the way they'd came up.

 

He'd let her have that one.

 

Nepeta sighed happily. She was right about Karkat! He certainly did seem to have a gooey interior, and while she wasn't quite at it yet, she was determined to get there!

 

Karkat sighed, reflecting on the date. It was fun. He'd gathered Nepeta had a crush on him, even if just a small one. Thinking about it now, it was cute in a way, and maybe he wasn't thinking of Nepeta that way _just_ yet, but he enjoyed her company, and would definitely consider going on another date with her after this one. He had a lot more on his plate right now though. He had to get in touch with Sollux about the band, and he also had to figure out who the fuck was messaging him.

 

 

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 21:12 --

TG: so youre in a band now or some shit  
TG: whats up with that

 

 

Oh. Right.


	5. Fuck It, Dog. Life's A Risk.

# Are We A Real Band Now?

 

CG: I GUESS I AM? I STARTED A BAND WITH SOME FRIENDS, THERE'S NOT REALLY MUCH MORE TO IT THAN THAT.

CG: HEY, WHAT THE FUCK? I SHOULDN'T EVEN BE TALKING TO YOU.

 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 00:13 --

 

 

Karkat had been staring at this brief interaction for a while now, since sending it last night. He sat on Sollux's couch with his feet resting on the small coffee table in front of it, his elbow against the arm and his head in one hand with the phone in the other. Since getting into his managerial role, Sollux had been a lot less grouchy about having so many people in his house, to the point that he had even cleared out the garage and pushed some of his furniture into it, so that the band had a space to relax that no longer looked unkempt from years of dumping junk that nobody was using in there. He was proud to call his home the headquarters of Skaia.

 

"Karkat?" Kanaya seemingly materialized from nowhere beside him. That, or Karkat was just so distracted with his phone that he didn't notice her taking a seat. "You've been rather quiet. Is something bothering you?" She asked, sweeping jet black hair behind her ear.

 

"What? No. Not anything that isn't _usually_ bothering me." Karkat said, looking back at her. Kanaya raised an eyebrow at that, inviting him to elaborate. "I had this boyfriend. A while ago, and I don't know what the fuck his problem is but I think he's trying to get a rise out of me. He won't leave me alone." He said with a huff as Kanaya gently took his phone out of his hand, looking at it. Her lips curled into a frown as she read the messages, offering little more than a shrug.

 

"It doesn't _look_ like that's what he's doing." She said, handing it back to him.

 

"The fuck do you mean? Of course he is. Not that you'd know though - You don't know him, and you haven't seen the full extent of it either. He's a real fucker. He had the audacity to show up at the place I work the other day too, asshole that he is." Karkat grumbled, tucking his phone into his pocket. Kanaya placed a hand on his shoulder, gently patting it. 

 

"Well, have you considered that he may just be trying to reconnect with you?" 

 

"...No." Karkat replied. "I mean no, he's not. He's definitely not. Why the fuck would he?" Kanaya just laughed at that, sitting up. Her hand returned to her lap.

 

"I won't try and tell you how it is or how it isn't, but in my _personal_ opinion it just seems like you need to bury the hatchet with him." Kanaya smiled, pulling him into a tight hug. "Whatever you need, if you need to talk about _anything_ , just remember that I'll be here for you, Karkat." Kanaya said, ruffling his hair with a smile on her lips.

 

"You're... _Really_ going for this 'Mom-friend' thing, aren't you?" He said, just sitting there as she latched onto him. 

 

"Naturally." She replied, before giving one last smile in his direction, getting up and going back to Rose so Karkat could further contemplate his situation. He figured that _maybe_ Kanaya was right, but regardless, he had other things to worry about right now than his ex-boyfriend. He had a band, and...

 

He had Nepeta smiling at him from across the room, giving a slight wave. What a sweetheart.

 

Karkat waved back, only to have her attention stolen, along with everybody else's, by Sollux, who had dragged a milk crate into the middle of the room so he could stand on it. Not that the lanky bastard needed to be any taller. "Attention! Everyone quit talking for one sec! Band meeting!" He said, waving his hands in the air.

 

"Does... That mean we need to go?" Equius tilted his head, pointing towards himself and towards Rose. Sollux seemed to have to think about it, but eventually he managed to come out with:

 

"Nah. It's a Skaia and friends of Skaia meeting." He said, amending his previous statement. "Now listen. I didn't want to spring this on you guys immediately after our first show, so I've waited until now. I have some great news, and I have some bad news. So uh, which is it gonna be first?" He asked, looking around the room.

 

"Great news!" Nepeta called out, sitting on her amplifier beside Equius as she smiled up at Sollux. 

 

"Alright, after the show at the fairground, some chick came up and told me she wanted you guys to play at her club, where she assured me that you guys would find an audien--" He was interrupted by cheering from Gamzee, Nepeta, Kanaya, Rose, and Tavros.

 

"HEY!" He called out, narrowing his eyes. "Shut _up_! You haven't heard the bad news yet." He said, looking around the room.

 

Huh. Karkat wondered what that woman wanted, but he hadn't thought to follow it up with Sollux. At least he had closure on _that_. Though, he really wanted to speed things along here.

 

"Then fucking tell us it." Karkat said with an unimpressed glance, folding his arms as he glared up at his friend. 

 

"The club is like... 180 miles away because she's not from around here." He said, stepping down from the milk crate.

 

Karkat put his hand to his chin, giving the matter some thought as everybody in the garage mumbled to each other. That was definitely an issue. "So, you guys need to figure out how to get you and all your shit up there. Because this is probably gonna be your breakthrough gig. This might be your _only_ chance, and I'm not gonna let you guys throw it away 'cause you have like, total boners for lugging your gear onto public transport. We can't use the bus forever, and it won't _work_ here either." Sollux finished, stepping back to let the discussion amongst band members begin.

 

Karkat's mind wandered back to yesterday, when that band pulled up and made a shitty attempt at mocking them. All of a sudden, a lightbulb appeared above his head. Metaphorically, of course. "Those assholes we saw at the bus stop yesterday were right. We need a van." Karkat said aloud. Tavros piped up shortly after.

 

"Well... Uh, can we afford that?" He asked, standing in the corner as he brought his hand up to scratch at a shaved side of his head. 

 

"If we all pool in, we might be able to find an ad for one in the newspaper or something." Rose suggested, sitting with her arm wrapped tightly around Kanaya, with Kanaya's arm doing the same. "Of course, we'd have to hope that there actually _is--"_

 

"I've found one." Equius said, looking up from a newspaper in his hands. Nepeta's mouth hung open in surprise, looking between Equius and the paper.

 

"Equihiss, are you _magic_? Where did that paper come from?" She asked with her head tilted to the side, giving him a curious look. 

 

"It was simply just laying behind the amplifier."

 

"Then it's no good. It'll be old." Sollux said, waving the suggestion away dismissively. 

 

"Hold on!" Kanaya called out, narrowing her eyes accusingly. "Sollux, don't you think we should actually _try_ and see if it's still available before we ignore it completely? Maybe the advertiser didn't manage to sell it!" She said, glancing over at Equius. "Zahhak? How old is the paper?" She asked, looking in his direction. Equius' eyes scanned through the paper, until he managed to find a date on the front page. 

 

"It's last week's paper, and I believe the address listed is fairly close by." He said, rolling it up before handing it to Nepeta, who held it close against her chest. Karkat stood up, giving a slight stretch before making his way to the door.

 

"Alright, I guess we're all going shopping then." Karkat said, the band getting up and following with him. "In the meantime, why don't some of you look around and see what you can find from here just in case the ad in the paper is a bust." He said, holding the door open as everybody had begun to file out. After Equius and Nepeta shared a hug, and Kanaya and Rose shared a kiss, the band had left Sollux, Rose, and Equius to hold down the fort. Karkat gave Sollux a quick wave before leaving after everybody else, exiting the house. Immediately, Nepeta had unrolled the paper and started looking at the ad, like a treasure map of sorts, only instead of priceless jewels, they'd likely only come away with a beat-up van.

 

Well, at least it was something.

 

"Oh! It's this way! Follow me!" Nepeta called out with a giggle, marching down the sidewalk with the paper in both hands, the other 4 following behind her, still in the process of putting their coats and jackets on.

 

"It's like a scavenger hunt!" Tavros said, catching up to walk alongside Nepeta.

 

Karkat shrugged, looking between them. "A really shitty scavenger hunt." 

 

"I'm rather quite excited. We'll be making our first _real_ journey together as a band, won't we?" Kanaya said, holding her hands behind her back as she looked over Nepeta's shoulder to catch a glimpse at the paper.

 

It seemed that the advertiser wanted to discuss the price on arrival, instead of listing what they wanted for it. It didn't help, as they didn't exactly have a large budget, but some people just prefer to haggle, she supposed. 

 

"Our first real concert." Gamzee added, smiling to himself as he trailed behind. Tavros quirked a brow at that.

 

"Wasn't that the fair?" He asked, turning around to look at Gamzee, walking backwards. Gamzee  just shook his head, laughing quietly as he thought back on it.

 

"Nah. We were playing to like... What was it, two? Three people tops? Not including Kanaya's lady-friend and the big motherfucker though." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. Tavros shrugged, but then nodded in agreement as they continued down the sidewalk.

 

 It only took a few more minutes of trekking before they arrived outside of a decent sized home, much like Sollux's, only with another floor to it. The group crowded around the door on the porch, before Karkat reached out his hand, rapping his knuckles against the wood of the door. After about 5 seconds of nothing happening, Gamzee reached out to ring the doorbell, only to have his hand slapped by Karkat. "Be patient, dick." He said, glaring at him, only for Nepeta to press it while he was giving the Gamzee the evil eye. He just sighed, turning his attention to Nepeta, who looked really pleased with herself. 

 

Just then, the door swung open, and on the other side stood none other than the same guy from yesterday - the one in the van with the glasses. "Hey, I know you guys!" He said, smiling between them. Karkat's eyes rolled, and he let out an audible groan.

 

" _This_ asshole?" He said, putting his hand over his face. John gave him half a smile, holding back a laugh.

 

"Geez! Is he always like this?" He asked, pointing to Karkat with one hand in his pocket.

 

"More or less." Kanaya said, putting her hand on Karkat's shoulder. "We're here about your ad in the paper!" She said, giving him a polite smile, only for Nepeta to grab her attention by bouncing up and down excitedly. 

 

"Yeah, fork over the van!" She said, holding her hand out as if she expected him to put the keys in her hand.

 

John gave her a funny look, before taking a step outside, everyone taking a step back to give him some space. "Well, it's right there!" He said, pointing at the van in the driveway. Huh. They seemed to have missed it on the way over. The group went over to inspect it, with John following behind. It was a decent size, albeit with a few scrapes and scuffs on it. The side of the van seemed to be marked 'Egbert Family Cake Deliveries'. Immediately, Karkat was suspicious.

 

"Alright what's the catch? I'm guessing there's no engine or something. There has to be _something_ wrong with it." He said, cynical as ever. He just couldn't accept a reality in which everything went according to plan. Something always HAD to go wrong. John just laughed though, putting a hand on his hip.

 

"Pfft. The thing works fine! Really, I just don't want to have to look at it anymore. It was my Dad's, but he doesn't need it anymore." He clarified, walking over to the van to hit his fist against the side, light enough to not leave a dent, but hard enough to make a loud metallic thud. "Plus, I _hate_ cake." He said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. 

 

Nepeta looked shocked, and was about to chase him up on having such a controversial opinion, when Karkat spoke up, reaching into his pocket. "Alright, alright. Fine. What do you want for it?" He asked, moving over to the window so he could check out the interior. 

 

John thought for a moment. "Uh... Well I want this gone as soon as possible so uh... Two-hundred?" He asked, shrugging. A shrewd businessman he was not. 

 

"Are you shitting me?" Karkat said, looking back at him.

 

"I told you I didn't want it anymore! Besides, you guys need it way more than me!" 

 

"You're LITERALLY ripping yourself off. You're literally giving yourself the middle-finger by making that offer right now." Karkat said, folding his arms. Kanaya stepped over, nudging him harshly with her elbow to try and get him to shut up. 

 

"Oh, don't mind Karkat. That's very generous! I think you've got yourself a deal there, Mr. Egbert!" She said, smiling at him as she reached out to shake his hand.

 

 "Shotgun!" Tavros grinned, running around to the other side of the van.

 

 

 

"Oh, so we're giving up music to deliver desserts now?" Sollux said, inspecting the van that was now sitting in their driveway.

 

"I think it's rather charming." Rose said, leaning against the garage door as she looked at it. 

 

Karkat smacked the back of Sollux's head, walking up to the van. "We're going to paint over it, asshole. We should have plenty of time before the concert." Oh shit. That reminded him. "When is the concert anyway? You still haven't told us." Karkat said, looking back at him.

 

"I set it up so that you'd be playing tomorrow, don't worry about it." Sollux said, only for Karkat's eyes to become the size of dinnerplates, prompting him to put his hands on his head. 

 

"Are you fucking kidding me?! You ass! Remind me to *NEVER* let you handle this sort of shit ever again. We can't make that!" Karkat said, rolling his eyes with a groan. Sollux was just laughing, as per usual.

 

"What?! I need to keep you on your toes, Karkat! You might get sloppy otherwise!"

 

Gamzee looked at the van before giving a shrug, partially listening in on the conversation. "Well... I'm pretty sure we can make it. Maybe you're overreacting a little bit, Karbro." He said, patting Karkat's head, which prompted him to slap Gamzee's hand away. "I am NOT overreacting. Sollux is just incompetent." He said, folding his arms.

 

"Well, _I'm_ up for playing tomorrow! Especially if there's an audience!" Nepeta said, getting between Gamzee and Karkat. Tavros stepped in also, nodding. 

 

"Yeah! It'll be... An experience." He said, not sounding so sure of himself by the end of his interjection, but at the same time he was still excited to play. Really, it was just the thought of going somewhere new that was bothering him.

 

"Spontaneity is something of a recurring theme here." Kanaya smiled. "As long as we stick to what we know, it'll be fine, I'm sure." Kanaya said with a warm smile, leaning back against the van. 

 

Karkat let out a sigh, looking around at his friends again. Well, it seemed he was alone in thinking this was a bad idea. There was nothing left to do but show a little enthusiasm.

 

"...Fine. I guess we'll leave in the morning then." He said with a shrug. His decision was met with grinning faces and excited fidgeting all around. The enthusiasm was palpable.

 

_Here goes nothing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah, happy new year i'm _back_


	6. And Now For Something Completely Similar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short Bonus Chapter! It didn't need to exist, but I willed it to.

# Mindfang

 

 

"Boy, you really suck at this, Terezi!" John grinned, his thumbs tapping away wildly at his controller, quite literally sitting at the edge of his seat with excitement. 

 

"I'm blind." She replied, dull grey eyes staring into nothing as she pressed buttons at random on her own controller. The cartoony whacking sounds, and the grainy, low-quality grunts as a result of the game showing its age that came from one of the on-screen characters led her to believe she must have been hitting _something,_ but video games aren't the easiest thing in the world when you can't see.

 

"Ghostbusters Ghoulish Punchout II isn't something you have to be able to _see_ to be good at, Terezi. It's something you have to _feel!_ " John replied, giving a quick glance down towards Terezi as she slouched on a beanbag, not even facing the TV. Not that she had to. 

 

"Regardless of my potential for Karate Kid-esque mastery of your video game, John, I can't help but wonder whether or not your winning-streak has anything to do with the fact that you only play as Venkman." She said, still pressing buttons at random as her lips curled into a smirk, managing to land a few good hits on John as she grinned to herself. "Tell me, John. Is there anything you would like to tell me about this 'Peter Venkman' character? Does your choosing of him put you at some kind of advantage, John?" She asked, turning her head to where she knew John was laying, giving the most judging expression she could, which again, wasn't the easiest thing in the world for her.

 

John just laughed, rolling his eyes. " _No!_ Venkman is fair and balanced! Unlike _Slimer_."

 

"Oh, I'm playing as Slimer?" She said, trying her hardest to twist her mouth into a question mark shape. Whatever _that_ looked like. "I must have not noticed because _I am blind."_

 

Their friendly little argument was interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door opening. Or it would have been interrupted had they still been arguing. Vriska slammed the door shut, grumbling.

 

"What are you two dorks squabbling about?" Vriska asked, taking her bass off her back, leaving it propped up in the corner. She stood waiting for a response, but she never got one. John's tongue sat between his lips as his eyes remained glued to the screen in concentration, and all of Terezi's attention was directed to random button mashing. "Yeah. Hello to you too, guys." Vriska said as she walked over.

 

"Still playing that stupid game?" She asked, standing in front of the TV with her hands in her short pockets. John gasped, trying to peer his head around Vriska, until the punching, the kicking, the jumping, the grunting came to a stop. John's inability to see what Terezi's on-screen character was doing enabled her to defeat him.

 

" **SLIMER. WINS.** " The game announced in an electronic voice, prompting John to fold his arms in defeat, and Terezi to giggle. Vriska groaned, fishing around the back of the TV to unplug it.

 

"You guys need to focus more on important things. Stupid Ghostbusters themed fighting games from like twenty years ago are _not_ important." She said, a flash of white setting upon the TV before it quickly faded into black. 

 

"Geez, Vriska! Take a chill pill why dont'cha?" John said, pushing his glasses up as he looked up at her.

 

"Yeah. Talk to your local doctor and ask them if chill pills are right for you, Vriska." Terezi joined in, folding her arms.

 

"I do NOT need to take 'chill pills'." Vriska said, rolling her eyes. "I just care about the future of the band, because _apparently_ you guys don't!" Vriska said, sitting on the bed next to John, putting herself between him and Terezi, who was sitting on the beanbag.

 

"I care _immensely_ about the band, Vriska. I just don't know how we're going to scrape enough money together to afford another gig." Terezi said, turning her head vaguely in her direction. John put his hand to his chin, before piping up.

 

"Well, I have two-hundred dollars from selling my Dad's van." He said, gesturing over to the paper notes gathered up on his dresser. Vriska grinned at the sight of money, quickly making her way over to scoop it up. She held it up to the light and let out a gasp, looking back at John.

 

"Oh my God, it's real money? Knowing you, I thought you might have accepted two-hundred dollars worth of Chuck E. Cheese tokens or something." She smiled, but her smile quickly dropped just as quickly as it formed. "But I'm a _liiiiiiiitle_ pissed off you only took two-hundred for it. You basically ripped yourself off, Egbert." Vriska said, pocketing the cash before glancing back at him. John just shrugged, laying back on the bed.

 

"Two-hundred's fine. Besides, they clearly needed it more than I did!" He said, looking at her. "It was those guys from a couple days ago. Remember? The ones that you wanted to introduce us to?" John said,  turning over on his stomach so that he could look at Vriska without her being upside down, though by the time he had completely turned over, Vriska was completely livid. She looked two steps away from shooting steam out of her ears.

 

"FIRST of all, I wasn't introducing us, I was INTIMIDATING them! SECOND of all, you _helped_ another band?!" Vriska said, gritting her teeth as she looked down at him.

 

"What's the big deal about helping another band?" Terezi asked, clambering onto the bed with an inquisitive look on her face as Vriska took the money back out of her pocke to take another look at it. She had to remain ever vigilant, as her enemies may have been scheming to rip them off, and that shit just would not fly.

 

"EVERYTHING!" Vriska said, scrunching the money up in her fist as she clenched it. "Other bands are the enemy." She said, her gaze drifting between Terezi and John, who were both giving her some fairly confused looks.

 

"Even the really famous bands that we'll probably never even compare to?" John asked, sitting up on his knees.

 

Vriska pointed at him with a serious, stern expression. " _Especially_ the really famous bands that we'll probably never even compare to." She said, prompting John to look down at the band posters on his walls with a shocked expression. He felt betrayed.

 

"But especially those guys you sold the van to as well. Now we're going to have to brainstorm ways to get one step ahead of them again." Vriska said, determined to be better than Karkat's band. She couldn't remember a time in recent memory when she was so driven.

 

"Well, maybe getting another gig would be the best course of action." Terezi rubbed the back of her neck.

 

"Uh, we could like... Make T-Shirts?" John shrugged.

 

"Or we could do BOTH!" Vriska was practically grinning from ear-to-ear, looking between her bandmates. "John, you go scrounge up a load of plain T-Shirts and some paint. Once you have that, we'll all meet up at the van in five minutes, then we'll go get ourselves a gig." She almost cackled, reaching out to put her arms around both John and Terezi, kissing both of them on the cheek. The kisses were each returned. 

 

"Great! Now go, go!" Vriska said, lightly shoving them to get them moving. John jumped off the bed, reaching out to take Terezi's hand, which she happily held. 

 

"This way!" John said, leading her out the door so he could help her find her way around. "Looks like it's all gonna start coming together now, huh?"

 

"Thanks to Vriska's scheming. But now, I guess I have to recover my drumsticks from hammerspace." Terezi replied, squeezing John's hand.

 

"Pfft. No problem! They're there, on the couch!" He said, slowly walking her into the living room, their shoulders brushing together as they held hands.

 

"JOHN! I'M NOT SEEING ANY T-SHIRTS!" Vriska yelled down the stairs. Shit.

 

"Right! Sorry, Vriska!" He yelled back up, before leaving Terezi by the couch, handing her the red and white cane that was also propped up against the couch. Terezi smiled, leaning over to peck John's cheek before he ran off. 

 

_Here goes something._


	7. Just Like Heaven

# It's A Date

 

 

Karkat stood in front of the TV, switching it off. Gamzee just continued to stare ahead, laying with an ashtray on his chest.

 

"...Was watchin' that." Gamzee said, pointing at the TV with the roll-up between his fingers, blinking a couple times as he glanced up at Karkat, who was now walking around the apartment switching things off.

 

"Not anymore you're not. You need to get some sleep, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Karkat said as he walked back into the living room, most of the lights now switched off. "Actually, no. To say it's a 'big day' is a MASSIVE fucking understatement. Tomorrow is fucking huge, and I'm not about to let you fuck it up by making us late when you refuse to get out of bed in the morning."

 

"You're like, really stressing, Kar--"

 

"I am _NOT_ stressing _._ Now would you please do the right thing and go get some sleep? You and I both know you're not going to want to get up early and jump into that piece of shit van if you stay up all night watching... Whatever the fuck it is you were watching." Karkat said, looking back at the now switched off TV before he turned his attention back to Gamzee.

 

"The Food Network." Gamzee corrected with a smile. Karkat's brow quirked at that, putting a hand on his hip as he tilted his head in confusion.

 

"You don't even fucking cook." He said.

 

"...Yeah, but motherfuckers get hungry, Karbro." Gamzee replied, dropping ash into the ashtray as Karkat's confused expression only grew more confused. Before Karkat could even say anything in response, there was a knock at the door. Odd. Literally nobody came to the door unless Gamzee was being too loud, and given that he was about to fall asleep on the couch, that didn't seem like the probable explanation. Karkat went straight over, unlatching it to see who was standing there.

 

 

"...Hey, Karkitty!" Nepeta beamed up at him as Karkat's eyes widened in surprise. Upon hearing her voice, Gamzee turned to look at the apartment door, grinning almost from ear to ear. 

 

"Oh. Nepeta. I--... What the fuck are you doing here?" He said, looking even more confused than he already was before he realized what he'd just said, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "I mean, why are _you_ here?"

 

"I just wanted to see whether or not you'd like to hang out before tomorrow? I mean, we're all gonna be in that van together fur so long that we might come out of it hating each other!" Nepeta giggled, putting her hands in her coat pockets as she continued to smile brightly up at Karkat. "If you're too busy, I understand!" 

 

Karkat rubbed the back of his neck. He could feel Gamzee's eyes staring daggers through him. He had a hard enough time convincing him that he and Nepeta weren't an item, and now that she was on their doorstep, he might have to try and convince him all over again. It'd be even harder to do that considering that he knew full well he was just about to agree to Nepeta's proposition, after making such a big deal about going to sleep early. "Of course I'm not too busy. Just give me one second." Karkat said, closing the door again before running back into his room to grab his jacket. He could feel his face heating up.

 

"What happened to the big day tomorrow, Karkitty?" Gamzee laughed as Karkat walked back into the living room, taking the roll-up from Gamzee's hands to put it out in the ashtray, and then picking the ashtray up and placing it down on the coffee table. He could definitely see Gamzee calling him that for a while now that Nepeta had said it to his face.

 

"Shut the fuck up. Or go to sleep. Actually, if you could do both of those things that would be a boon from the fucking Gods themselves." Karkat snapped back, rushing for the door.

 

"Goodnight, Karkitty!" Gamzee called back, before letting out a cough. Karkat rolled his eyes as he walked back out to meet Nepeta.

 

She was still stood in front of the door when he opened it again. They wordlessly smiled at each other, though Nepeta did far more than Karkat, as Nepeta started walking back the way she came in, with Karkat in tow.

 

"So, where are we going?" Karkat asked, walking down the steps that led up to his apartment, standing on the street with Nepeta as she buttoned her coat up, cars still whooshing past. Karkat's left hand sat in his jacket pocket as he looked around the street. It was dark outside, and the reflection of the streetlights against the snow had turned the sky a dim orange, as it usually did. He looked up at it until he felt something soft and warm curl around his hand. He glanced over, only to see that Nepeta was holding onto his hand as she started to walk along the pavement. He walked alongside her, trying not to let her see his blushing face. Which was lucky! Because if Karkat looked in her direction he'd see that she was blushing too.

 

"Well, I thought maybe it'd be nice to go to that diner we always go to with the others! Except since it's just us, I guess... That makes it a date, doesn't it?" Nepeta said with a quiet laugh, looking up at Karkat.

  
"I guess it does." He replied, very gently squeezing her hand. There was silence for a few seconds. It wasn't uncomfortable silence - Just silence, like the two of them were processing everything that had just happened. Karkat was the one to break the long pause, looking back at her. "So how the fuck did you figure out where I live anyway?" He asked, giving her a curious look. Part of him knew exactly where she got his address. If he had to guess, he'd say...

 

"Pawllux told me!" She smirked.

 

"Of fucking course he did." Karkat rolled his eyes. Of fucking course Sollux told her. It was beginning to seem like he was secretly pushing for the two of them to hook up from the shadows. 

 

"I noticed mew seem to be a little hard on him, Karkat..." Nepeta said, pulling herself a little closer to him. Karkat was quick to dismiss that suggestion.

 

"What? No I'm not. He's my best friend, best friends just give each other a hard time." He assured her, letting out a sigh, the cold air visible on his breath.

 

"Well, me and Equihiss don't act like you and Pawllux do. I don't think I've ever given him a hard time!" Nepeta said, looking down in consideration for a moment. "At least I don't _think_ I have!"

 

"Yeah, well you clearly don't have a complete fucking asshat for a best friend. Anyway, Equihiss? Is that Equius? The big guy?" Karkat asked, trying to recall. He remembered him. He remembered being fucking scared shitless over how big the fucker was.

 

"Yeah, that's him! He's a real sweetheart isn't he?" She replied, laying her head against Karkat's shoulder as they walked. She seemed to have been inching closer and closer over the course of the journey.

 

"Yeah, he certainly fucking looks like it. What the fuck does he do for a living? Break spines? The guy's huge." Karkat said, clearly being sarcastic about the spine-breakage, but he said it like a genuine question. Maybe part of him was _genuinely_ curious whether or not Equius was a professional spine breaker.

 

"Yeah he's pretty big! But he's more like... A gentle giant or something!" Nepeta giggled as she shrugged. "He wouldn't hurt a fly!" She said as she pat Karkat on the back.

 

"Right. I'll still take my chances with remaining out of his reach at all times, thanks." Karkat said, crossing his arms now they were no longer holding hands.

 

It didn't take much longer for them to get to the restaurant. At this time, there was barely anybody inside, and as per usual, nobody was sitting in their seat. The clinking of crockery being washed in a sink could be heard from the kitchen, and a jukebox in the corner of the diner was quietly playing Country & Western hits that wouldn't be amiss on some trucker's mixtape, though every now and then the jukebox played the occasional 80s power ballad. It only took about 4 songs on the jukebox to play until they received their food, having ordered as soon as they walked in. A burger was placed in front of Nepeta, who licked her lips upon seeing it, and a measly salad was placed in front of Karkat, who looked just as unenthusiastic to see it as he did to order it. 

 

"I've kinda been thinking about you..." Nepeta said as she picked up the burger with both hands, completely disregarding the cutlery on her plate. Karkat pushed the salad about on his own plate with a fork, before taking a bite as Nepeta spoke. Cars on the other side of the window occasionally drove by silently, the darkness making it impossible to focus on anything but the headlights and the taillights. One of the diner's employee's was sweeping the floor near them - They'd be closing soon.

 

"...I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about you a couple times too." Karkat admitted, his elbow on the table and his head in his hand as he chewed. Nepeta wasted no time in taking a gigantic bite out of her food. "What did you think about me?" He asked after swallowing the salad down.

 

"Well... At first I thought I was just thinking about the band," She said, before interrupting herself to chew her food a little more with her hand in front of her mouth. "Because I'm having so much fun with it." She said before swallowing. "...But I sort of realized the only thing I was thinking about was when I'd next get to see you again. I hope that's not weird." Nepeta said, raising an eyebrow. Karkat just shook his head.

 

"I don't think it's weird to enjoy somebody's company like that." Karkat said with his eyes shut as he took another bite of salad.

 

"Do you enjoy _my_ company too?"

 

His eyes opened. Usually he'd get all sarcastic at this point, but the time didn't really feel right. The situation didn't call for sarcasm, it called for sincerity. "I wouldn't be sitting here with you if I didn't. I'd have told you to fuck off and closed the door." He said, to which Nepeta nodded in agreement.

 

"I'm really glad!" She grinned, taking off her coat, which made visible an extremely baggy T-Shirt with the words 'NAPALM DEATH' on it. "You know, I thought you were the cutest thing when I first saw you..." She said, looking down at her plate as she put her food back down, with Karkat giving her a somewhat surprised look. "Even right meow I still think that..." She added, looking back up at Karkat as her cheeks slowly turned red. "You're an amazing singer Karkat, and I can tell you really care about the band..."

 

"I'm not that great. Really." He said, putting his fork down, leaving his hand on the table. He figured he knew where this was going. "Look, I-- Out of everybody in the world I'm not that special. Seriously, I'm kind of an asshole, and--" His dark olive hand was covered by Nepeta's small, much paler hand as she interrupted him.

 

"Karkat..." Nepeta said, her mossy green eyes looking into his own. "To _me_..." Karkat's heart felt like it was hammering against his ribcage. He was reduced to a blushing mess as Nepeta stared into his eyes. He couldn't imagine nervous how she must have been feeling if it felt like this for someone just sitting here listening to her.

 

"...You're purrfect." Nepeta leaned forward, her eyes falling shut as she leaned in closer to him. Karkat, as though spellbound, felt like all he could do was reciprocate. His eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in, placing a hand on Nepeta's cheek just as she placed one on his, their lips meeting for their first, actual kiss. Not like the peck after their not-Date. This was far more intense. It felt like fireworks were going off in Nepeta's heart. Her stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. Karkat felt much of the same. They held their kiss for a good minute before pulling back, looking into each other's eyes once again.

 

"That was--..." Amazing. That was fucking amazing. "...Not that bad." Karkat spoke quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, much too shy to admit how he really felt. Luckily, Nepeta was good at reading people - and Karkat's face said it all.

 

"It was everything I'd hoped it would be..." Nepeta sighed happily, squeezing his hand. The moment was interrupted by the duo being told they had to leave so the diner could close up. Karkat was content to leave the rest of the salad, but Nepeta just shoved the rest of the burger in her mouth like some kind of greedy hamster. Karkat nearly laughed, but luckily he remembered that showing emotion was for suckers.

 

They stood outside once again, Nepeta buttoning her coat back up as Karkat turned to look at her. Once she was done with it, Karkat threw his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. After a few seconds of an embrace, they both moved their heads back, their lips meeting for another quick kiss. 

 

"Guess I've gotta go home now..." Nepeta smiled, glancing at the ground. That meant they'd have to walk in opposite directions to each other. 

 

"...You don't _need_ to." Karkat said as he let go of her. Nepeta adjusted her hat, tilting her head to the side.

 

"I don't?" She asked, holding her hands in front of herself. Karkat blushed yet again, taking a deep breath before he spoke.

 

"I mean, you could always come back with me. If you want to - It's completely your call." He said, hands in his pockets. Nepeta practically lit up with joy, throwing her arms around him with a giggle.

 

"I'd like that a lot, Karkitty!" She grinned, nuzzling her head against him.

 

 

 _Me too_ , he thought. 


End file.
